Journey Through Lands Unknown
by The Silent Scream
Summary: A fight gone awry sends Willow and Pat to a world very different to their own. Far from their friends, they have to survive the dangers there and find their way back home. Rating as usual for violence and language. Willow / OC est. relationship
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: As always, none of Buffy is mine. Sadly!

This one's for my dear friend Emerald Demona ;)

* * *

Journey Through Lands Unknown

The loud slam with which the Slayer's body hit the wall echoed through the abandoned building, and she involuntarily let out a grunt at the pain which flared up in her back; moments later, this was forgotten though as she dropped down on her knees, just in time to avoid the axe one of the demons had thrown at her, the blade hitting the wall with an audible crunch and getting stuck, quivering slightly.

Gritting her teeth, Buffy came to her feet again, grabbing the axe as she straightened up and jerking it free; she brought it up just in time to block the sword which came swinging at her, having a moment to look for her friends afterwards as the demon who had attacked her was retreating a few steps, relieved to see that at least, they were all still standing.

Not wanting to get struck down from behind, Giles and Xander were standing back to back, using a spear and yet another axe to fight their opponents off; a few feet from them, Pat was busy hacking and slashing at a demon so fast that he had no real chance to fight back, and close to her, Willow was kneeling next to the cryptic and archaic symbols the demons had drawn on the floor, mumbling under her breath as she worked to neutralize the ritual the group of demons just had been starting when the gang had arrived to stop them.

The blonde just had another second to wonder when one of the demons would notice what the witch was doing, and how close her best friend was to actually undoing the progress the demons had been making with the ritual; the last thing Sunnydale needed now after all was some sort of Hell Lord wreaking havoc – then, the demon who had thrown his axe at her attacked her yet again, forcing her to focus on the battle, the witch soon out of her field of view as she dodged several brutal slashes.

A few feet away from her, Pat finally got rid of her opponent with a powerful slash, splitting him all the way from shoulder to navel; not wasting time with gloating over her victory though, she hurriedly pulled her sword back out, just beginning to turn in search for another enemy when something hit her hard in the side of the head, stars exploding in front of her vision as she stumbled, a harsh curse escaping her as she realized what had happened.

"Coward", she growled as she focused on the demon who had snuck up on her from her blind side and had used the club he was still holding against her; she still had a second to be grateful that it hadn't been a sword or a mace, then he growled back at her and charged, the taller woman quickly sidestepping his attack and ramming her sword at first in, then through his back, a smirk curling her lips as he dropped moments later.

Lowering the sword slightly, the demon took a moment to make sure that Giles and Xander were doing fine, then turned to see how her lover was doing – only to have her breath get caught in her throat as she spotted the demon sneaking up on the witch from behind, a spiked mace held high over his head, ready to bash her skull in without her having even the slightest idea that he was there.

"Willow!" she hollered on top of her lungs as she already started moving, bringing up the sword; startled, Willow looked up from the markings on the floor, a shocked cry escaping her as she saw the demon looming over her, the mace coming down seconds later.

Reacting more on instinct than on conscious thought, the redhead threw herself aside, the spiked weapon slamming into the floorboards instead of her skull; dimly, she heard Buffy cry out as bright light exploded all around her, and then her lover was by her side, the sword coming down and biting deep into the demon's chest, black, thick liquid splattering from the wound and landing on what was still left of the symbols, the light exploding with a tremendous roar before darkness took over and swallowed them whole.

* * *

The bright sunlight shone right into Willow's face, and she groaned as she rolled over, her still halfway asleep brain dimly wondering if, for once, Pat had woken up earlier than she and had opened the curtains; groping for her pillow with the intention to hide beneath it, she froze after a few moments, finally realizing that her fingers weren't moving over the soft sheets of their bed, but over grass, her heart skipping a beat as she slowly opened her eyes.

A second later, she sat up so fast that she made herself dizzy as she found herself in the middle of a clearing, birds singing in the trees surrounding them, their jolly sounds mixing with the soft snores coming from her right; this, at least, showed her that she wasn't alone in this strange place, wherever it was, and she hurriedly scrambled to where her lover laid, sleeping as deeply as she usually did in the bed they shared.

"Pat", she frantically spoke up, grasping her shoulder and shaking her slightly, glad when at least, her partner woke up rather fast, compared to how long it usually took her to come out of dreamland, "I think we're in trouble."

"Huh", the demon gave back, not all too smart, looking around sleepily – only to be wide awake as well within the blink of an eye, sitting up just as fast as Willow had, sounding much more awake as she added a startled "What the Fuck?" to her initial unarticulated random noise.

"Language", the redhead automatically reprimanded, "but, yes, even though I wouldn't have worded it so crassly, you're right. Where are we?"

"In a forest", Pat smartly replied, shrugging at the "Seriously?" look this brought her from Willow; coming to her feet, she looked around, then focused on her partner again, scratching the back of her head as she went on. "A forest I've never seen before. Have you?"

"No", the witch gave back at once, "it doesn't look like the forest close to Sunnydale at all."

"Are we awake?" the taller woman questioned in reply, earning a confused look from her partner, "I mean, I got clonked in the head pretty hard during that fight. Maybe I'm unconscious and dreaming all this."

In response, Willow looked at her for a few more seconds – before she reached over and pinched her, making her yelp more in surprise than in pain, her voice full of indignation when she asked her what she thought she was doing.

"Did that hurt?" the witch wanted to know in reply, making her nod, "then you're not dreaming."

"Dammit", Pat grumbled, having to admit that this was making sense, "then what happened? Where are we?"

"The portal", Willow realized in reply, her eyes widening, "remember that bright light when the demon destroyed the symbols with the mace? And when you stabbed him and he bled on it, it must have caused something, maybe the combination of it all, my counterspell and the rest…"

"Huh", the black haired woman repeated the first statement she had made in this odd place, "makes sense, I guess… So how do we get back?"

"No idea", the witch sighed, not happy to admit this at all, "we need to figure out where we are first, if we were just relocated, travelled back in time or if we're in some… other world, I suppose…"

"Well, we won't be able to do that just standing around here", Pat pointed out, still glancing around as if expecting someone – or something – to come barging at them any moment, "let's go and see if there's an end to this forest somewhere…"

"As good a starting point as any", the redhead shrugged, studying the trees now, "I wish though we had at least a bit of an idea. If this is still our world, we could use the moss on the trees for orientation."

"Perhaps we should try to find a river", the demon suggested in reply, "and follow that. It should lead us out of the forest, or even to the next city… village… whatever."

Nodding in reply, Willow took a moment to straighten her clothes and run both hands through her hair, glad that neither Pat, nor she had been injured during the strange transport into this place; then, she grasped her lover's hand, even happier to have her by her side for this ordeal, telling her just that as they started walking and making her smile slightly, the way she squeezed her hand afterwards working as a silent reassurance that everything would be alright.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's a good thing I'm not wearing high heels when I go battle demons", Willow remarked quite some time later, time they had spent walking through the forest, always straining their ears for the sounds of running water, "or I would have broken both ankles by now."

"And torn ligaments", Pat chuckled, ever the optimist, "so yeah, a good thing indeed. Not that I'd mind carrying you in case you'd break something."

"Or give your healing to me", the redhead reminded her of this not unimportant option, "but let's hope it won't be necessary any time soon."

She fell silent as she thought of the last time it had been necessary to do this, realizing that it had been quite some time since then; after all, the last time she had gotten seriously hurt, she'd actually been killed, a brief shudder running through her as she remembered what her lover had done to get her back.

"Jesus", said lover's complaining distracted her from those thoughts, bringing her mind back to the present, "how big exactly is this forest? It feels as if we've been walking for hours. But I can't tell for sure, cause my watch stopped."

"So did mine", the witch confirmed after a quick glance just to make sure, "and I don't even want to see what this spell did to my cell phone."

In response, Pat nearly slapped herself, finding it hard to believe that she hadn't thought of checking her own phone so far; figuring that it couldn't hurt to look, she pulled it out of her pocket, raising an eyebrow as she glanced at the display and saw that the phone seemed to be working normally, even though the small lines indicating the reception quality were all gone.

"Seems to work", she told her partner, then took a closer look, "even though my phone claims that it's the sixtieth day of the eighteenth month and thirty two o'clock."

"Kinda late?" Willow gave back with a slight giggle, making the taller woman snort as well while she tucked the phone back into her pocket; they smirked at each other for another moment, then continued walking, both of them relieved when finally, the sound of running water reached their ears.

"At last", Pat commented, speeding up a bit as they approached the noise together and forcing the witch into a light jog, since she could make much bigger steps with her longer legs, "I already started to worry there'd be no rivers here. Let's hope the water's clean, I'm thirsty."

"Don't complain to me in case it isn't and gives you the squirts", Willow gave back with a roll of her eyes, earning yet another snort for her troubles; and a minute later, they stood at the shore of an amazingly clean looking river, the water so clear that they could see small fish flitting around in it and all the way to the river's bottom.

"Looks quite clean to me", the demon pointed out the obvious, "and, as cheesy and clichéd as this may sound, too clean for our home."

"Cheesy and clichéd perhaps, but true", Willow had to agree, watching how a surprisingly big fish swam by, her stomach rumbling audibly in response to the sight, her cheeks heating up when her lover shot her an amused look at the noise.

"Why don't we rest here for a bit", she then suggested, "and catch one or two of those fish? You're not the only one who's hungry, my belly's just more discreet about it."

"Sure", the redhead shrugged after a moment, dropping down on the ground moments later, "but unless you can catch fish with your bare hands, we'll have a bit of a hard time doing that."

"Demon", Pat reminded her of her nature in reply, already taking off her boots, then her socks and pants, presenting her navy blue boxers with the Garfield print to the world, "watch and be awed."

And with those words, she waded into the river, briefly snarling under her breath at how cold the water was; she took a few moments to get used to it, then stood perfectly still until the fish swimming by didn't even notice her anymore – before her hands darted down and closed around one of them, the unfortunate fish wriggling furiously in her grasp, squirming this way and that in attempts to get free.

Refusing to let go of her catch, the demon quickly made her way back to the shore, dropping the fish there; a minute later, a second one had been caught, and after utilizing a rock to finish them off, she looked at her lover proudly, gesturing at their lunch.

"See?" she then said, briefly flaming up to dry, making sure not to set the woods on fire, "told you. Are you properly awed?"

"Yes", Willow reassured her with a small giggle, "even though your goofy print underwear is slightly spoiling the effect."

"Psh", the demon let out in response, pulling her pants back on, then looking around for a sharp rock to slice the fish open, "leave my underwear alone. I like it."

Momentarily, the redhead felt a bit surreal, sitting here in a strange forest and discussing her lover's underwear while said lover was starting to gut and clean the fish she had caught; then, she shrugged it off and started collecting small twigs and leaves instead, building the base for a fire while the demon took care of her catch.

"There we go", Pat stated a few minutes later, after having skewered the fish on suitable branches, "now just let me light that up and then we can fry these beauties."

"Go ahead", Willow gave back, moving a few steps away so she wasn't in any danger of getting burned; briefly, a look of intense concentration showed on her lover's face as she was making sure to conjure just the right amount of flame, not wanting to set the woods on fire – before she made a casual flicking gesture at the wood the witch had prepared, a tiny fireball flying from her fingers and landing in the middle, the whole structure igniting at once.

"Good job", the redhead smirked as the demon positioned the fish over the flames, not bothered by the flames making contact with her skin in the process; and already a short time later, the smell of the frying fish filled the air, prompting Willow's stomach to growl audibly again.

"Patience", Pat told her with a slight smirk, "if you eat that half raw, it might be you ending up with a case of the squirts."

"I know that", the witch gave back, slight indignation in her voice; in response, the taller woman let out a chuckle, and after a moment, the redhead smiled as well, moving to sit by her side, her smile widening when immediately, she put one arm around her, once more glad that they were in this together and that she wasn't forced to face this strange situation on her own.

* * *

"Finally", Willow sighed several hours later, her feet by now aching despite her comfortable footwear, a similar, dull ache in her lower back; after they had finished eating, they had taken a bit longer to rest, then had continued their walk, following the river, a strategy which was paying off at last since now, they could see a small collection of huts up ahead in the distance, not enough to be a city or even a village, but at least to show that they weren't the only people in this area.

"Now let's hope they're not hostile", the demon commented as she spotted something which might pass for a dirt road on a good day not far from them; figuring that it'd be more comfortable than the uneven terrain close to the river's shore, she suggested moving on to said road, figuring that it'd be the smartest thing to approach whoever lived at the settlement from where they could be seen openly, just to make sure they didn't appear hostile to the people there.

"Think they might be?" Willow wanted to know as soon as they were walking on more or less even ground and she didn't need to pay attention on every step anymore, "hostile, I mean?"

"Could be", the taller woman shrugged, fighting down the urge to light up a cigarette – after all, she didn't have that many left, didn't know if she'd be able to get any anywhere and had no idea how the people living in the huts up ahead would react to one, "depends on if they're… from our time, or from some other."

"Good point", the redhead had to admit, "but, well, let's hope we'll be lucky for once and they'll be friendly. Or, if they aren't, too awed by our appearance so they won't dare attack us."

Just as Pat opened her mouth to respond, a soft rustling from the bushes lining the road got her attention, and she stopped dead in her tracks, prompting Willow to do the same and give her a curious look; before she could inquire though, the rustling increased, and then two men came out of their hiding place, brandishing quite crude looking weapons, one of them holding an axe with a rusty blade and the other some sort of hatchet which looked as it should be used to do gardening and not to threaten people.

They both looked like they hadn't seen a bathtub up close for quite some time, and smelled accordingly, their stink so rank that it made Willow's eyes water; and with the way they were looking at them, it was more than obvious what they wanted even before the smaller of the two opened his mouth and spoke up, briefly amazing the couple with the fact that they could understand him perfectly well, taking one of their concerns about this strange place away.

"Look at the two of you", he started, studying their clothing and the bits of jewellery they were wearing, "all alone on this road. Don't you know it's dangerous for young women to travel alone?"

"Oh jeez", Pat gave back with a roll of her good eye, her response clearly startling the men since they exchanged a brief, surprised look, "you couldn't come up with a more clichéd line? How about, Oh, what is a woman like you doing in a place like this? That's a classic, too."

"…we have weapons!" the taller one was the first one to get over his surprise and regain his ability to speak, "so hand over your silver!"

"That thing looks like its falling apart", the demon remarked in response, gesturing at the axe the smaller one was holding, "and you don't even know how to hold it correctly."

To her relief and slight amusement, her comment worked just the way she had intended it to – they both glanced down on their hands clutching their weapons, just for a second, but long enough to allow her to start moving, and as they looked up again, she was right in front of them, giving them just a moment to notice the smirk on her face before she grabbed them and smashed their heads together, the witch grimacing behind her at the dull sound this produced, followed by the low thumps as their bodies hit the road.

"Amateurs", the black haired woman commented, shaking her head; behind her, Willow smirked slightly, then moved to her side and looked down on the knocked out men, slightly relieved to see that they were still breathing – after all, they still didn't know if they had travelled back in time or to some other world, and killing someone in the past might have repercussions they might not even be able to imagine, even if it was someone who seemed as unimportant to history as a random thug.

"Well, you surely took care of them quickly", the redhead remarked while her lover bent down and picked up their weapons, effortlessly breaking them and rendering them useless, "that was quite efficient."

"I didn't want to waste too much time and energy on those thugs", Pat shrugged in reply, throwing the ruined weapons into the bushes, "after all that walking and whatnot, honestly, I just want to get some rest."

"This place up ahead doesn't look big enough for an inn", the witch pointed out in reply, "but yeah, I get your point, I feel the same. Let's see, if they're not hostile, perhaps someone can rent us a room after all."

"Let's hope so", the taller woman mumbled, making her partner nod; they exchanged a smile, then a brief kiss before they continued moving along the road, leaving the still out cold thugs behind without wasting as much as a second glance on them.


	3. Chapter 3

As they reached the small assembly of huts, not even big enough to be called a proper village, the people who were working on the fields all around the huts were staring at them with open curiousness, none of them moving to meet them though or even calling in out in greeting.

"Well, at least they are not attacking", Willow mumbled to her partner after a minute of uncomfortable silence, "but I feel like some sort of circus freak."

"You're not the only one", Pat gave back, glancing around, noticing how they all avoided her gaze; the moment she'd look away from one of them though, the person would openly stare again.

"Perhaps we should try talking to one of them", she added after a moment, "if only to make them stop staring and start running. I have a feeling they might do just that in case we… come on too strong."

"Let me do the talking then", Willow replied at once, already looking for someone who didn't appear as if they'd run screaming the moment she'd approach them, "no offense, Sweetie, but people tend to think you are scary."

"Which usually is a good thing", the demon shrugged, "because it means they won't mess with me. Or you. Might not be so helpful right now though."

Smirking, Willow nodded her agreement, then finally chose the one she'd try to talk to; it was a young woman, strangely reminding her of Anya, from her whole posture to her looks and the way she seemed to be the only one who didn't look away when their eyes met.

"Excuse me", the redhead started as soon as she was within talking distance and didn't need to shout to be heard, glad when the girl didn't drop the basket filled with carrots she was holding and run, "do you have a moment…?"

"You're not from here, are you", the girl asked in response, proving to be as direct as Anya when it came to talking, as well; clearly, Pat had noticed this too, since she let out a low snort behind the witch, then quickly regained her composure and putting on a straight face again while her partner nodded her agreement, figuring that there was no point in lying.

"We're not", she then confirmed verbally as well, "in fact, we don't even know where 'here' is."

"Well, this little place here doesn't have a name", the girl shrugged, "and you won't find it on any map. You do know which country you're in, right?"

"…no?" Willow admitted after a second, already fearing how the girl might react; to her relief, she didn't freak, but merely raised an eyebrow in bemusement, the same emotion in her voice when she replied. "How curious. Well, just so you know, you're in Sindelar."

"…thanks", the witch gave back, a cold shiver running down her spine as she realized that she never had heard of this country before; trying hard to not let her discomfort show, she smiled at the girl, then asked her what her name was, her eyes briefly widening at the response.

"Arya", the girl told her, smiling again now, holding out her hand, "nice to meet you. We don't often get visitors here."

"My pleasure", the witch replied, grasping her hand, by now having gotten over her surprise at the girl's name, "I'm Willow, and this is my… companion, Pat."

"Nice to meet you", the taller woman added as Arya gave her a brief look, her gaze immediately moving back to Willow though, something the taller woman blamed on her alleged scariness.

"I suppose this… place doesn't have an inn, does it?" the redhead wanted to know, glancing at the small huts all around, "we're looking for a place to stay during the night…"

"No inn here", Arya confirmed, shaking her head, "but if it's just for one night, you can stay at my place if you like."

"That'd be too kind", Willow let her know, mildly surprised – she hadn't really expected this offer, and from the way her lover raised an eyebrow, it was clear that she hadn't, either.

"We're not even a proper village, but we help each other out", Arya shrugged in response, putting down her basket, "it's the only way to get by around here."

"Well, if you need help with anything, let us know", the redhead offered, figuring it was the right thing to do after the young woman had given them a place to sleep for the night; immediately, Arya nodded, giving them a pleading look as she gestured to a wooden block a few feet away and the logs which were piled up next to it.

"Would you mind chopping some wood?" she then asked, smiling sweetly, "usually, my brother does it, but he's on his way to the city, so…"

"Sure, I'll do it", Pat shrugged in response, already rolling up her sleeves, "how much do you need?"

"Oh, just a few small logs", Arya reassured her, "just enough to get the fire going tonight. My brother should be back tomorrow, then he can do the rest."

"Alright", the demon gave back, picking up the axe; and while she went to split the logs, Arya asked the redhead if she was willing to come inside with her and help her prepare dinner, the witch immediately nodding her agreement, still more than glad that the girl had offered her house so quickly and that at least for the upcoming night, they wouldn't need to worry about where they'd stay and get some rest.

* * *

After they had eaten dinner with their host, a rather simple, but tasty vegetable stew, and she had prepared a place to sleep for them by piling a bunch of blankets in one corner of the house's biggest room, Arya had retreated to her tiny bedroom, giving them some privacy; for a while, the couple just cuddled on the blankets in silence, enjoying just lying around and getting some rest, then Willow spoke up at last, keeping her voice low though so their host wouldn't hear her in the adjoining room.

"So", she mumbled, turning slightly so she could look at her lover, "what are we gonna do tomorrow? Go to that city Arya mentioned? And isn't it freaky how much she resembles Anya and even their names are similar?"

"Hell yes it's freaky", Pat agreed at once, sounding slightly relieved, the explanation for this following a moment later as she went on, "and I'm so glad you just said that. I kept thinking about it the whole time and thought I was going insane or something."

"We have to tell her this once we get back", Willow giggled, "she'll be thrilled. And then she'll ask us if there were any shrimp here, for some reason, she always thinks of shrimp when we talk of alternate worlds."

"So you think we're in another world, then?" Pat wanted to know, raising an eyebrow; nodding, Willow snuggled closer to her, drawing invisible symbols on her chest with one index finger as she replied, her words making the demon nod as well after a moment.

"Pretty sure we are", the redhead muttered, "I mean, that country name, Sindelar? You ever heard of that before? Not to mention the way the people and huts look. It's like medieval times back in Europe."

"Good point", Pat had to admit, a small sigh escaping her, "and that's just our luck. We couldn't land in some normal world when that spell went on all wonky, nope, it had to be some medieval fantasy Lord-of-the-Rings type of thing."

"Never a dull moment in our lives, huh", the witch giggled, "but I wonder how the rest of the gang is holding up. They must be worried sick by now."

"We'll have awesome stories to tell them once we get back", the demon smirked, "but you're right, they surely worry. So we better find a way back soon, cause I don't want to be stuck here forever."

"Me neither", Willow grimaced, "perhaps we really should check out that town Arya mentioned, see if someone's there who can help us. If we're lucky, they'll have some sort of temple or something."

"And if we're unlucky, they'll end up being hostile because of the way we stand out like sore thumbs", the black haired woman grumbled, once more showing her pessimistic side; in response, Willow just shook her head, not quite sure what she could respond to that, then yawned heartily, prompting her lover to smile slightly as she suggested that they should get some rest now.

"Yes", the redhead gave back with another yawn, "there'll be more walking tomorrow, so sleep sounds like a pretty good idea…"

"Sleep well", the taller woman mumbled, slightly tightening her embrace around her, "we'll figure it all out tomorrow, and then we'll go back home."

Willow still had a moment to wish for her partner's confidence about the whole situation, then her tiredness got the better of her, the excitement and the hours of walking of the day taking their toll on her; and not even a full minute later, she was fast asleep, slumbering through the night without waking once until the next morning dawned.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: Sadly, my schedule is all messed up this week, hence the late update. The next one will be posted on Friday!

* * *

"Thanks again for the hospitality", Willow said in the next morning, after they had washed up using the tub of water Arya had provided for them, "it was really kind of you to let us stay in your home."

"Don't mention it", the young woman gave back, smiling at her, "just make sure to take care on the way to the city, it's a dangerous road. There's bandits and wild animals and, oh, my brother claimed that a dragon took up residence again in the woods, but we're not sure if he's serious or not."

At hearing the last few words, Pat nearly choked on the tea Arya had served them, managing to get it down the right pipe in the last second; still, Willow briefly patted her back, then looked at the young woman again, making sure to keep her voice carefully neutral as she replied. "A dragon? Do you get these a lot around here?"

"We used to", Arya shrugged, as if it was the most normal thing in the world, and for her, Willow reflected, it perhaps was, "when I was little. But they're said to be all gone by now, the knights of the king really got keen about hunting them for a while. Something about how killing a dragon would show their strength and prowess."

"Huh", Willow let out while Pat grumbled "Typical" behind her; Arya gave them another smile, then asked them if they'd leave right after finishing their tea, making them both nod in response.

"The city's not far from here", the young woman let them know after taking a sip of her cup, "if you walk at a brisk pace, you should make it there before nightfall. Unless you run into any dangers, that is."

"Knowing our luck, we probably will", Pat mumbled, prompting her lover to smirk at her, Arya smiling slightly as well; then, she gave them a critical look, shaking her head afterwards, sounding slightly regretful when she spoke up again.

"With your clothing, you'll gain a lot of attention", she told them something they already had noticed, "I wish I could give you something more… fitting for around here, but neither my stuff, nor my brother's will fit you… You should find some proper clothing, and quick."

"Just another reason to go to the city", the witch gave back, momentarily tempted to ask the young woman if there were any temples or magic users there; then, she decided against it, remembering what had been done to people like her back in medieval times and not wanting to find out the hard way if Arya shared those superstitions.

"Take care on the way there", the young woman repeated as they finished their tea and rose from their seats, "and it was nice to meet you. Thanks for chopping all that wood." With the last few words, she glanced at the enormous pile of wood the demon had cut up for her; even though she had told her that she didn't need that much, Pat had gone all out, splitting every single log she'd been able to find.

"You're welcome", the taller woman smirked while Willow let out a small giggle; then, they thanked her once more for letting them stay with her before they finally left, making their way back to the road and starting to walk, the black haired woman lighting up a cigarette the moment she could be sure that they were out of sight from anyone, frowning as she peered into the pack.

"I only got twelve left", she then complained, throwing her partner an unhappy look, "and I really hope we find a way to get back before I run out. Or that they have some sort of equivalent to my smokes here."

"Yeah, we don't want you on withdrawal", the witch agreed at once; she'd never witnessed how her lover acted when deprived of nicotine for longer than a few hours, but didn't want to find out, figuring that a demon on withdrawal couldn't be all too pleasant.

"I wonder if what Arya said about the dragons was right", she changed the topic after pondering this for another minute, "if they really had them here and if they are coming back now."

"If they are, I don't want to meet one of them", Pat grimaced, "I bet they are not all too friendly. There's a reason dragons are hardly ever portrayed as social creatures who invite you in for tea."

"That's a prejudice", Willow pointed out, smiling slightly, "maybe they are nice and kind. But just in case you're right, I don't want to find out the hard way."

"Maybe we'll get some more bandits", Pat smirked, sounding so absurdly gleeful about the idea that it made her partner giggle, "those two we ran into were fun. Not very competent and not much of a challenge, but fun."

"Well, they're just bandits", the redhead shrugged, glancing around as they kept walking, "they don't have the kind of fighting experience you have."

"It was fun anyway", the taller woman gave back, finishing her cigarette and, with a rather regretful look, putting it out on the sole of her boot before she pocketed the butt; for a while, they walked in silence afterwards, then the demon spoke up again, her words making the redhead grimace slightly. "We totally should have gotten some horses. Would have been quicker and more comfy than walking."

"Um, no thanks", the witch replied with a shudder, "I don't like horses. I'd rather walk."

"Aw", Pat let out, "really? Why? I've never been too good on horseback myself, but if it's a properly trained horse, there's nothing to be afraid of."

"I had a bad birthday party pony experience", the redhead explained in reply, briefly thinking of the moment she had said the same, almost word for word, to Tara, years ago, "when I was four. Since then, not so much with the ponies. Or their grown-up versions."

"Aw", the demon repeated her earlier noise, "that's a pity. I used to ride a lot when I was young. Mostly because we didn't have cars. I never got really good, I mean, full-blown-gallop-jumping-over-stuff-good, but I was doing well enough. We could share a horse! Then you could hold on to me."

"Under those circumstances, I might be willing to reconsider", Willow let her know, making her smirk again; then, since there was no horse and no way to acquire one in sight, they kept on walking, coming closer to the city with very step they took, both of them hoping that there, they would find a way back home.

* * *

To the relief and surprise of both of them, nothing happened on the way to the city; they walked almost all day, as Arya had predicted, only taking time to rest at noon, was the sun was burning the hottest, sitting in the shade of a large elm tree and having a quick and small lunch, consisting of berries and nuts they had collected near the road.

"There", Willow now pointed out, as dusk had startled to settle over the land, gesturing to the mass of buildings on the horizon, "that must be the city. At least it looks like one."

"Indeed", the demon gave back, squinting at the buildings, "and the houses are bigger, too. Let's see how the people there will react to us and our outlandish clothing."

"If we're lucky, they're like Arya", the witch replied, speeding her steps up a bit, the tiredness which had started to take hold during the last few hours forgotten, "and they'll have an inn where we can rent a room and get some nice food."

"We don't have any money", Pat pointed out in reply, clearly liking the thought as well, though, "at least not the kind of money they use here. I doubt they'd want our dollars."

"Good point", Willow had to admit, "but we got jewellery. I bet we can trade that for a room with soft beds and a warm dinner."

"Let's hope so", the taller woman smirked, the city continually coming closer as they kept walking, "even though I doubt they were big on soft beds in those times. But at least it'll be a bed and not a pile of blankets on the floor."

"A pile of blankets was still better than sleeping out in the open", the witch pointed out, making her partner nod at once; now that the city was within sight, they both felt a burst of fresh energy, and after another half hour of walking, had reached the city's outskirts, and saw the first few of the people living there, all of them staring at them as openly as the ones living at the tiny village had.

"Feels like a déjà vu", the demon mumbled under her breath, just loud enough for Willow to hear; just like in the previous village though, nobody made a move to attack them, all of them just looking as they walked side by side, some of them whispering to each other.

"We're quite the sensation again", the redhead agreed, already glancing around for a building which might look like an inn, "but at least none of them is attacking us. Oh look up there, that might be an inn!"

With those words, she gestured at a two-story building, with a sign up front on which a rather crude tankard had been painted; after the demon had nodded her agreement, they made their way to the building, the taller woman insisting to go in first, just in case anyone might end up being hostile.

At least, no one seemed to do just that when she pushed the door open and entered; they all fell silent though and just stared, one of them even going as far as dropping his wooden cup, amber liquid spilling from it, over the table and dripping down to the floor.

"Hobb!" the stunningly fat man behind the rather worn looking bar called out, breaking the spell, "don't think ya gonna get one for free now!"

"Aw man", the guy complained in reply, looking unhappily at the spilled drink, "come on mate! It wasn't me fault!"

"It was you who dropped the cup!" the bartender argued back, then turned to look at his new guests, giving them a toothy smile, the effect of it quite ruined by the fact that most of his teeth were varying shades of brown and black.

"Welcome, Ladies, welcome", he greeted them, making them wonder if he was so friendly to all his new customers or if he thought that they were rich, thanks to their rather unusual clothing, "sit, please, what can I get you? We got ale and wine and if you want something a bit stronger, the finest schnapps in town!"

"Cause it's the only schnapps in town", Hobb grumbled, spiteful about his lost ale, "don't drink it girls, you'll go blind."

"Shut up there or I'll cut you off", the bartender threatened, then smiled brightly at the couple again, hurriedly speaking on before they could say anything. "So what can I get you? Food, drink? Both?"

"Both, and a room for the night", Pat was the one to answer, a bit overwhelmed by how enthusiastic that guy was, "do you rent out rooms?"

"Yes, yes", the innkeep reassured her, already bustling around as he prepared the drinks, both Willow and the demon noticing with amusement that he hadn't really asked them what they wanted to drink, "whole second floor is rooms for rent."

"Great", Willow was the one to speak up now, smiling at him and hoping he wouldn't freak at what she had to say next, "we don't have any of your… currency, but if you'd accept this necklace in payment…"

With those words, she removed said necklace and held it out for the innkeep to inspect; to her relief, he nodded at once, his eyes lighting up at the sight, and he sounded quite enthusiastic when he told them that it was perfectly fine and that they could get his best room and his best ale for the necklace, underlining his words by emptying the cups he already had filled for them back into the barrel the contents had come from.

"What would you like to eat?" he wanted to know as he refilled the cups with something which looked like red wine, both of them noting that he hadn't bothered to wash them out or even just wipe them clean, "I got stew with rabbit, beef, and pork fresh from the farm!"

"Beef's fine", the witch gave back, making him nod enthusiastically again; he gave them yet another toothy smile, then yelled for someone in the kitchen next door to prepare two bowls of the beef; a female voice hollered back that it'd be there in a minute, the witch's tummy responding with a hungry growl.

"Patience, girl", the innkeep laughed, to the redhead's embarrassment, her cheeks colouring until they rivalled her hair, "you heard me wife, it'll only take a minute!"

"We've been on the road all day", Willow mumbled in response, "it's been quite… tiring. And appetite-inducing."

"Well, your appetites will be taken care of in a moment", the innkeep promised her, smiling his toothy smile again, "and I'll go ready your room! Will you wanna share one?"

"Yes", the demon was the one to answer this, glad when he didn't seem to think of this as strange; he just nodded and served them their drinks, then gave the other guests a warning look and told them to behave before he bustled off into the second floor to ready the rooms, both Willow and Pat giving their best to appear nonchalant and as if they belonged there as they carefully tasted the wine he had served them, both of them strangely sure that soon, something quite unpleasant would happen.


	5. Chapter 5

The unpleasantness started faster than they had expected, in form of a rather inebriated man coming to his feet and moving over to where they sat at the bar side by side; he leered at the redhead, trying to lean on the bar in a casual way, only to miss and nearly fall flat on his face, regaining his balance the last second though and smiling at her, forcing her to hold back a grimace when he spoke up and his bad breath reached her nostrils.

"So ya two girls were on the road all day, without a guy?" he wanted to know, so clichéd that it the demon roll her good eye, "t'is dangerous, ya know, if ya wanna, I can accompany ya from now on!"

"No thanks", Willow politely gave back, inconspicuously trying to move away from a bit since he was smelling quite bad, "we're doing fine on our own."

"Ya sure?" he wanted to know, moving closer to her again, to her dismay, and even placing one hand on her arm, giving her a good look at his dirty skin and the black dirt beneath his fingernails; now not bothering to hold back the grimace anymore, she pulled back from his grasp, keeping her voice low and polite when she replied. "No, thank you. And I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't touch me."

"Ya hear that, guys?" he called out to the rest of the room in response, some of the drunker ones laughing while those who still were more or less sober just smiled nervously, having noticed the way the one-eyed companion had tensed up and was looking at their buddy, strangely resembling the way they had seen wolves in the forest look at unwary rabbits.

"So polite", the guy went on, leaning closer to her again and making her grimace once more as his warm, stinky breath hit her face, "ya from some noble fam'ly or something? Ya really should think about gettin' a male companion then, not all guys here are as nice as me!"

With those words, he moved to put one arm around her shoulders, only to have his wrist caught in a steel-like grip, his eyes briefly widening – before his gaze met Pat's, the demon's voice carrying a distinctive growl as she spoke up. "I believe she asked you not to touch her."

"Take yer hands off me", he spat in response, struggling in her grasp in a vain attempt to free himself, "who do ya think ya are?!"

"I'll let go of you now", the taller woman told him, still with that growl in her voice, loud enough to make some of the other men shift uneasily, "and once I did, you'll walk to your seat, sit down, and you won't bother us again. _Ya_ hear me?"

When he didn't reply at once, she squeezed his wrist until the bones cracked, making him yelp in pain; then, he finally nodded, and she let go of him, prompting him to take a step back and glare at her balefully, cradling his wrist with his other hand.

"Sit. Down." the black haired woman repeated when he didn't move at once, and after giving her yet another glare, he stepped away from them and started moving back to his table, his buddies there watching him with barely held-back grins – before anger suddenly contorted his face and he reached beneath his dirty vest, pulling out a small, but sharp knife, spinning around with the weapon raised at stomach level, his teeth grit as he rushed at the couple.

"Look out!" one of his drinking buddies cried out, just in time to keep one of them from getting seriously hurt; the moment Pat had turned her head to see what the commotion was about and her gaze had fallen on the knife, her instincts kicked in, trained and sharpened to deadly precision by two centuries of working as an assassin, making it quite easy for her to avoid his rather clumsy attack by twisting to the right, away from the knife, her fingers closing around his arm again moments later, a low growl coming from her as she, making use of his own momentum, slammed him forward and down onto the counter.

"Mistake", Willow commented next to him, with deliberate calm picking up her cup afterwards and taking a sip; he only could groan in reply as now, the demon was twisting his arm up behind his back, using her other hand to keep him down on the counter when he tried to break free by pushing his neck down firmly.

"As my companion here said", she then spoke up, sounding surprisingly friendly, "that was a mistake. Give me one reason why I shouldn't break your neck."

"Now, now", another female voice threw in before he could say anything, both Willow and Pat quickly identifying it as the one they had heard from the kitchen earlier, "no fights in here. My hubby doesn't like fighting. Joel, have you been annoying our guests?"

"Tell her to let me up", Joel pressed out between grit teeth in reply, his arm feeling as if it had been set on fire by now, "please! She'll break me arm!"

"I reckon you did something to deserve it", the woman replied, unimpressed; in response, Pat jerked his arm upwards again, and with a cry, he let go of the knife, the weapon clanking audibly as it hit the floor, prompting the woman to raise an eyebrow – before she looked at him again, her voice cold as she spoke on. "Out. Now. And don't come back."

"Martha!" Joel cried in reply, finally allowed to straighten up again as Pat let go of him, still tense though, ready to grab him once more the second he'd make a suspicious movement towards Willow or her, "you don't mean that!"

"We told you the last time you used this in here, once more, and you're out", Martha coldly gave back, "so now get out before I call for Ivan and have him throw you out."

Looking as if he might start to cry any moment, Joel stepped back, then wanted to bend down to retrieve his knife, only to have Martha snap at him again, the chubby woman telling him in rather colourful terms what she would do to his hands and that weapon, should he dare to take it along.

Clearly, her threats were believable, since he left the knife where he was and, with his face pale, slunk out of the inn; his buddies looked after him as he left, but none of them said anything, and the moment the door had fallen close behind him, Martha apparently had forgotten about him, focusing on the couple again as she put down the plates with roast beef and vegetable she had brought for them.

"I apologize for him", she let them know, shaking her head while they started to eat, surprised and happy to find that the food was exceptionally good, "we warned him quite a few times by now that he has to stop this behaviour. I hope he didn't hurt you?"

"No, he just was an annoyance", the demon reassured her after swallowing the mouthful of meat, "but thanks for kicking him out."

"It was my pleasure", Martha gave back with a roll of her eyes, "such a nuisance. Anyway, your room should be ready soon, so if you want to, you can go there after you finished eating. Of course, you can also stay down here and drink with us for a bit longer!"

"Only if the big one doesn't hit any of us though!" one of Joel's buddies called out, making the rest of them laugh and nod; for a moment, Willow worried how her partner would react to that, then she saw the smirk on the taller woman's face and smiled as well, the response of the demon making her smile widen moments later.

"Don't worry, pal", she rumbled, turning slightly on her seat so she could look at him, "I won't hit anyone, unless you make the same mistakes Joel made. I really don't take well to people annoying my companion."

"No worries there", the one who had made the joke gave back, smiling at her slightly nervously, "we'll stay away from her, promise!"

"Promise!" the other men echoed, to the relief of the redhead; she smiled at her partner for a few more moments, then focused on the food again, giving her best to not devour it greedily, her partner having the same troubles next to her, both of them glad that, at least for this night, they'd have some peace and calm.

* * *

"Wow", Willow said an hour later, as they entered the room Ivan had prepared for them, raising an eyebrow, "I didn't expect it to be so… clean."

"Me neither", Pat admitted, peering around the room as if she expected an army of cockroaches to burst out of nowhere any second, "he really took care, that necklace you gave him might be worth more here than we thought."

"I don't care", the witch let her know at once, sitting down on the bed to test how comfortable it was; it was a bit harder than she liked, but still she figured that she'd sleep better there than she had on the pile of blankets on the floor in Arya's house.

"Think they figured out by now that we're a couple?" Pat distracted her from those ponderings, prompting her to look up in surprise; normally, the demon didn't care what other people thought of their relationship, and if anyone made the mistake to say something vile about them while she was in earshot, she usually dealt with them efficiently, making ample use of her growl, what Willow always called her Glowing Gaze of Rage and, if necessary, her quite strong punch.

"Not sure", she admitted, getting up and moving to where her partner was standing next to the open window, smoking a final cigarette before bed and reducing the number she still had to eleven, "why do you ask?"

"Well", the taller woman gave back, taking a long drag of her cigarette afterwards, savouring the taste, "considering that we landed in some sort of medieval world, I figure people wouldn't take too kindly to the relationship we have. So… Let's hope we won't have a mob with torches and pitchforks waiting for us tomorrow morning."

"Ugh, what a bad mental image", the witch replied with a shudder, moving closer to her lover so she could one arm around her, an unspoken wish which was immediately fulfilled, "but good point. Hence why I didn't do any magic when that guy Joel was being so annoying, who knows how they might have reacted to that."

"Badly, I guess", Pat said out loud what she had been thinking, "so yeah, good thinking, you better not do any magic as long as we're here, unless it's absolutely necessary. Like, for getting us back home."

Nodding her agreement, Willow snuggled a bit closer to her, momentarily worried that someone might look up and spot them cuddling at the window; then, she figured that all they'd see would be a tall figure holding a smaller one, the relative darkness of the town making it impossible to spot any details about them.

"I'm glad I'm not in this alone", she said after just enjoying the black haired woman's embrace for a while, turning slightly though so the smoke wouldn't get into her nose, "I probably would have been alright, but it's easier with you here…"

"Ha", the demon let out in reply, making her giggle slightly, "if you had been taken or pulled or whatever here on your own, I would have gone to each and every witch and warlock in the country until I'd find one capable of sending me after you. Or I would have yelled for Hecate until she'd shown up just to make me shut up."

"That's not how you call a Goddess", Willow replied with another laugh, shaking her head, "but it's good to know you'd be willing to go to such lengths."

"Of course", the demon nodded at once, quite enthusiastically, "those lengths, and more. You're my girl, and I love you, you think I'd leave you stranded in some creepy medieval world?"

"It's not that creepy", the witch pointed out, "but of course I don't think that. Not after what you did to bring me back."

"Don't get started on that again", Pat warned her in response, her tone making it clear though that she wasn't as serious as her words might have sounded, "still not regretting it, and not going to regret it anytime soon."

"I surely hope so", the redhead sighed, then smiled again, to the taller woman's relief, "and I love you too."

In response, Pat bent down to her and kissed her tenderly, then made a vague gesture at the bed and asked if they should get some rest now; immediately, Willow nodded as an answer, and even though they had been wearing their clothes for two days now, they decided to keep them on as they laid down to rest, well aware of the fact that they might have to leave in a hurry, should anything happen, both of them fast asleep just a few minutes after they had laid down as the excitement of the day took its toll on them.


	6. Chapter 6

In the next morning, they washed up as well as it was possible with the water Ivan and Martha had provided for them in a small wooden tub; and afterwards, Willow questioned the chubby woman where they could get some clothes, prompting her to point them to the town's tailor, reassuring them that they'd find something there.

After thanking her for the information and the hospitality, the couple left the inn together, eager to get to the tailor and acquire some fresh clothing there; to their relief, it didn't take them long to find the building, people on the street staring at them again as they made their way to the small house, both of them skilfully ignoring the curious looks they were getting.

"Let's hope they'll have something which fits", Willow muttered to her partner as they reached the house; nodding, the taller woman took a glance at the sign which identified the building as the tailor, a wooden panel mounted above the door, with a roll of cloth and a thread spool painted on it, then tried the door, relieved to find it open.

Stepping inside first, she took a look around, nearly overwhelmed by the masses of clothes hanging in the small area; for a few moments, she wasn't even sure if the shop's owner was there, then a male voice called out to her from behind a stack of pants and shirts, sounding quite friendly and welcoming. "Be there right away! One moment!"

Taking a few steps inside so Willow could enter as well, Pat took a closer look at the clothing for sale; with the sheer amount of pants and shirts, she was quite sure that they'd find something there, even though she had her worries about how fast that would happen, asking herself if the shop owner knew where he kept what or if he'd have to dig through all those mountains of clothing until he'd find something which would fit them.

"Welcome, welcome", he now distracted her from those thoughts as he made his way out from behind the stack of clothing which had hidden him, "welcome to my store, ladies! How can I help you…?"

To his credit, he only faltered a tiny bit when he took his first good look at them and noticed how unusual his new customers were; after just a few seconds, he had regained his composure and smiled at them, his smile widening when the redhead let him know that they were in need of some clothing which wouldn't make them stand out so much.

"Sure, sure", he nodded his agreement, giving them both a critical look, "I'm sure I'll have something which will fit you. Wait here!"

And with those words, he vanished among the mountains of clothes again, the sounds of fabric being moved this way and that following; amused, Pat smirked to herself, her lover mimicking her facial expression next to her, keeping her voice low when she spoke up so the shopkeeper wouldn't hear her.

"I wonder what he'll come up with", the witch mumbled, taking another look at all the clothing, "let's hope it's nothing too… I don't know. Weird?"

"Or moth-eaten", Pat gave back, shooting another critical look at the heaps of clothing, "I'm not sure it's smart to store clothing like this."

"Maybe there are no moths in this world", the redhead giggled in response, then quickly fell silent again as footsteps returned to them; and moments later, the shopkeeper joined them again, arms full of clothing and a happy smile on his face. To the relief of both Willow and the black haired woman, he seemed to have chosen rather low-key items for them; the pants and shirts were made of woven linen, dyed grey and black for the demon and white and a strangely fitting, earthen green tone for the witch.

"There you go", he beamed at them as he shoved the clothes into their hands, "we got a curtain where you can try it on back there, I hope it'll fit. I had to get some male clothing for you cause you're quite the tall drink of water."

"That's okay", Pat reassured him, eying the bundle he had given her, "I'm used to that. Thanks."

He smiled happily in response, then pointed them to the curtain behind which they could change; it didn't take long until they had tried on the various pieces and had found, to their surprise, that they all fit perfectly, showing that, despite how disorganized his shop was, the guy had quite the talent for measuring people by just looking at them, making it obvious why he had become a tailor in the first place.

"Unfortunately, we don't have any of your currency yet", the witch let him know after they had finished trying the clothing on and had decided to take it all, leaving one set of clothing on immediately as to gain lesser attention in the future, ignoring the fact that, with her two-coloured hair and the eyepatch, Pat was enough of a sensation even without the foreign clothing, "but if you'll accept this in payment…"

With those words, she held out one of her partner's silver earrings to the man, and it didn't really surprise her that he nodded at once, a greedy glint briefly showing in his eyes before he got it under control again and smiled pleasantly once more, making them both sure that, yet again, they were overpaying, but none of them really caring.

"Sure, sure", he now let them know verbally as well, pocketing the earring the blink of an eye later, "this is more than sufficient. I'm glad I could be of service, let your friends and family know about my store!"

Briefly, Willow had a rather entertaining mental image of the whole Scoobie gang invading the store, forced to bite back a giggle as she imagined how the poor man might react to their friends; she took a moment to make sure she wouldn't start laughing, then nodded, giving her best to sound casual as she replied.

"We'll make sure to let them know", she told him, making his smile widen, images of more silver probably dancing through his head, "so they'll drop by if they're ever in the area. There's one more thing you could help us with…"

"Anything you need", the man smiled at once, "shoes? Accessories? A nice hat, perhaps?"

"No clothing", the redhead let him know in reply, holding back another giggle, "we just wanted to know if there's a temple somewhere in this town…?"

"Sure", the shopkeeper gave back at once, clearly not thinking of this question as odd, to her great relief – the last thing they needed now was someone needling them about why they would want to see a temple or even suspect that she was a user of magic. "It's at the other side of town, you just have to follow that street. Really impossible to miss, it's all big and ornamented."

"Thank you", the witch smiled, "you've been a great help."

"My pleasure, my pleasure", he reassured them, "have a nice day! And come again!"

They both thanked him once more in response, then left the shop, with the demon carrying the wrapped up bundle of clothes they had acquired; she briefly wished for a bag or something else where she could put them, then shrugged it off, figuring that they'd find something suitable sooner or later.

"Let's go find that temple", Willow distracted her from those thoughts, making her nod, "maybe we'll be lucky and find someone there who can help us with getting back home."

"Yup", Pat agreed amiably, shouldering the bundle of clothes, "cause as nice as the people here seem to be, I'd rather be back in Sunnydale as fast as possible."

"Me too", the redhead gave back, "so let's hope we'll find something or someone useful there."

Again, the demon nodded in response, and together, they set off in search for the temple, now not attracting as much attention anymore as they had before, but still making people look at them longer than it was normal, none of them even noticing though as they were too focused on their new destination and the eagerness to get back home.


	7. Chapter 7

Just as the tailor had told them, the temple was impossible to miss, both of them spotting it from afar at almost the same time; Willow was the first one to point it out, and next to her, the taller woman nodded, smirking as she studied the blocky building, with the pillars left and right of the big entrance and the ornaments all over it.

"Wow", she then commented, shifting the bundle of clothes from one shoulder to the other, "they really went all out with that temple. Probably to make sure everyone knows what it is."

"Well, people in these times often couldn't read", Willow reminded her of that not unimportant fact, "so they have to make sure that they figure out what this is even if they can't read a sign."

"Good point", the demon agreed, briefly wishing for a smoke, then fighting the urge down, telling herself that she still didn't know when they would get back home and that she had to ration her smokes until then, thus distracting herself by studying the temple again, able to make out more details now that they had gotten closer to the building.

"I hope we can find someone here to help us", the redhead mumbled next to her, "because if not, I'm not sure what we can do. I mean, we can't just randomly ask around for a witch or someone who knows how to use magic."

"Not as long as we don't know how they react to it, no", Pat agreed, shifting the bundle of clothes yet again, "they might be pretty much used to it, or they might freak out."

"Well, so far, no one mentioned it", she then pointed out, "so it either doesn't exist in this world, or they acknowledge it as much as the people of Sunnydale do."

"So, not at all", the demon snickered, making her smile and nod; moments later, the black haired woman grew serious again though, giving her a concerned glance as she went on. "Wait, if it doesn't exist, does this mean you can't use yours?"

"I can", the witch reassured her, to her obvious relief, "I can feel it, it's still there, within me. Trust me, if it had vanished because there's no magic in this world, you would have noticed."

Briefly, the taller woman thought back to how she had seen her partner go through withdrawal, when the dark magic within her had become stronger and stronger and had started taking over; then, with a shudder, she pushed those thoughts aside and just nodded, the redhead giving her a brief smile and squeezing her hand, knowing exactly what she had been thinking about.

Smiling back at her, the demon returned the gesture, then let go of her again, not wanting to draw any attention on the fact that they were holding hands; and half a minute later, they stood in front of the temple, gazing at the heavy looking, massive wooden door, the taller woman finally being the one to step forward and up to it.

"Well", she then mumbled, just loud enough for Willow to hear, "let's see if this place is open for business."

She reached out with one hand, already bracing herself for the weight of the door; the moment her fingers touched the wood though, it swung open soundlessly, startling her enough to cause a small, surprised yelp from her while behind her, the witch automatically took a step back, almost expecting someone to come rushing out at them and attack them.

For a few seconds, they both stood tense as they waited to see what would happen; when the area behind the door remained calm and quiet though, Pat finally dared to step inside, momentarily glad that doing so didn't make her feel nauseous – back in their world, entering a church always made her feel sick, and she avoided it as much as possible, only doing so if there really was no other way, one of the disadvantages of her demonic nature.

"Alright", Willow whispered as she entered the temple behind her lover, glancing around and at the statues lining the narrow hallway leading to what seemed to be the main area of the building, "seems as if no one's in. But how did the door open?"

"Magic?" the demon guessed in reply, keeping her voice down as well; neither the redhead, nor she were sure why they actually were whispering, since no one was there to hear them, but still it seemed wrong, almost blasphemous, to talk out loud in this place.

"This is a real temple", the witch added after a few moments of walking down the hallway in silence, the only noise being their footsteps on the tiled floor, "I can feel it, it's… a sacred place. There's some sort of strong magical energy here…"

"As long as it doesn't attack us", the taller woman mumbled as an answer, looking at the statues as they walked past them; they all depicted men and women in various stages of undress, some of them smiling, others having serious faces, none of them looking threatening or frightened though, to her slight relief.

Nodding her agreement, Willow moved a bit closer to her just as they reached the end of the hallway and stepped into the temple's main area; and for a moment, all thoughts of someone attacking them and the magic in this place were forgotten as they both just stood and stared, captivated by how beautiful this room was.

It had been built as a perfect circle, the redhead noticed as she glanced around; in the middle of it, a fountain stood, the water running down the polished marble surprisingly soundlessly, the flickering light of the candles which had been placed in holders all over the walls giving the liquid a golden shine and illuminating the room enough to give them a good look of the shrine which had been built opposite of the door, the stone table in front of it littered with what had to be gifts to the being the people worshipped in there.

"Wow", the witch finally brought out, still looking around quite stunned, "this is beautiful…"

"Thank you", a vaguely familiar, female voice spoke up, making them both jump – before the redhead's eyes widened as she realized who had materialized right in front of the shrine, smiling at the couple.

"Hecate", Willow was the first one to find her voice again, still finding this hard to believe; the Goddess didn't look exactly as she had when she had last seen her a few weeks ago, but the resemblance was big enough to make it more than obvious who she was.

"Almost", Hecate smiled back at her, moving over to them, "this world's version of me. But it's close enough. And I can't leave the two of you out my sight for a second, can I? I turn my back on your for a day or two and here you are, in another world."

"Sorry?" Willow gave back, smiling nervously; she felt a bit overwhelmed by yet another encounter with her Goddess, having seen her just a few weeks ago after praying to her for years and never being confronted with her in person before that occasion.

"I'm glad you found your way here", the Goddess gave back after acknowledging her apology with a slight nod, "even though I do have believers in this world, as you can tell, the magic outside this temple is not strong enough to just let me manifest anywhere I want. So I had to wait for the two of you to come here."

"Can you send us home?" Pat wanted to know, quite direct, clearly not as awed by Hecate's appearance as her lover; to her relief, the Goddess smiled and nodded, raising a hand before the couple could get too excited though.

"I can", she then confirmed verbally as well, "but it's not an easy task, I can't just wave my hand and you'll be back home. You need to bring me some items which will support the magic here."

"We'll get whatever you need", Willow promised at once, "just tell us what, and we'll get it."

"A twig of mistletoe", Hecate let her know in reply, "oak leaves, and mulberry. Also, if you could find lavender, it will help, but I know it's a bit rare around here, so it's not a must."

"We'll do our best", the witch reassured her, smiling happily now that they were about to find a way home, "good thing you need stuff which can be found in the forest, there should be more than enough of all that in this world. Might be harder back in Sunnydale."

"For sure", Hecate confirmed with a wink, making the redhead giggle slightly while Pat smirked; then, the Goddess suggested that they should get going so they'd get the things they'd need before nightfall, telling the demon that she could leave the clothes they had purchased at the shrine and that no one would steal them from the temple.

"Oh thank you", the taller woman sighed in reply, dropping the bundle next to the shrine rather unceremoniously; Hecate just smiled, then nodded when Willow let her know they'd get moving then, telling them to take care before she watched them leave the temple, smiling slightly at how excited they both were about being so close to returning to their home world.


	8. Chapter 8

"There we go", Willow happily stated two hours later, pointing to the mistletoe clinging to the branches of one of the trees up ahead; they had spent the last one and a half hours in the woods, finding the oak leaves Hecate would need and the mulberries, the mistletoe having turned out to be a bit harder to spot than the rest of the herbs and plants the Goddess had asked for.

"I'll go get them", Pat offered at once, figuring that she'd be better suited to climb the tree thanks to her strength and stamina; nodding, Willow stepped back to give her some room, then watched how she started the ascend by grabbing the lowest branch and pulling herself up, moving up the tree with surprising speed, especially considering her lack of depth perception.

"Be careful", she thus called out, glad that the mistletoe wasn't growing too high up; briefly glancing back at her, the demon nodded, then focused on climbing again, thus not noticing how Willow suddenly paused, tilting her head slightly moments later as she strained her ears, the strange rustling sound not far away from their location having caught her attention.

Remembering what Arya had told them about wild animals and bandits in the woods, she turned to glance at the area around them; and moments later, she spotted someone moving among the trees, instinctively stepping backwards until she bumped into the tree, giving her best to not sound too loud as she said her girlfriend's name, something in her voice prompting the demon to freeze in mid-movement and glance down on her lover.

"What is it?" she wanted to know, her concern growing when in response, Willow only motioned for her to come back down; forgetting the mistletoe for now, she hurried to do so, and not even half a minute later, she stood next to her partner again, giving her a look which was both questioning and worried.

"I saw someone", the witch whispered in response, glancing around nervously, "maybe it's nothing, but…"

"Probably not", Pat dryly replied, squinting as she peered at the surrounding woods as well, now, "knowing our luck…"

As if that had been tempting fate, the rustling sound which had made Willow perk up in the first place reached their ears again, and they both tensed; and then, a group of masked men stepped out of the surrounding foliage, the demon holding back a groan when she, despite their masquerade, recognized two of the five as the bandits she had knocked out shortly after their arrival in this strange world, now cursing herself for not killing them when she'd had the chance.

"Remember us, do ya", the smaller snarled, glaring at her, "it's time for payback."

"Stay with your back to that tree", Pat hurriedly whispered to the witch in response, making sure the bandits couldn't hear her, "or try to hide behind it, just make sure you don't get too close to this."

Nodding, Willow swallowed heavily as she watched her partner take a step forward, a low growl coming from the demon moments later; if this upset any of the bandits, they were hiding it quite well, brandishing their crude weapons and giving their best to look menacing and dangerous.

"Come on", the demon snarled, briefly wishing for a weapon as well as she raised her fists, "can't decide who should go first?"

In response, two of them started moving forward, and she took a few steps to meet them; clearly, they didn't have much of an idea about how to use their weapons, Willow reflected as she watched her lover duck the clumsy swing of a rusty axe quite easily, then slam her fist into the man's stomach and knock the air out of him before she swept the other guy's legs out from underneath him with and made him fall down with a surprised yelp.

Smiling slightly at how easily her partner had the upper hand, Willow kept her eyes on the fight, observing how Pat took down another one of the bandits; she heard the rustling behind her just a second too late, and just as she turned her head, the two guys had grabbed her, a third clamping his hand over her mouth and pressing a dagger to her throat, the blade old and nicked, but still sharp enough to slice her open, should he choose to do so.

His palm over her mouth muffled her startled outcry, and before she could let out another one, he hissed into her ear that he'd kill her, should she try to scream; she froze at once, still remembering how it had felt to have her throat slit, her heart hammering up to her throat as the men started dragging her away from the tree, the one covering her mouth still keeping his dagger close to her throat.

Before they could get her out of sight though, the demon turned as she threw one of the attackers over her should and slammed him down to the ground; their eyes met, and moments later, a loud growl echoed through the forest as the black haired woman realized what was going, fire bursting from her fists as she lost all self-control and restraint and started to rush over to the men about to kidnap her lover.

Willow's relief about her lover spotting in time what was going on only lasted for a few seconds; then, her eyes widened again as she saw one of the bandits behind her partner start moving as well, brandishing a heavy wooden club, her tries to cry out a warning for nothing, the man keeping her mouth covered realizing what she was doing and making sure that she couldn't get out more than muffled sounds.

Frantically, the redhead struggled against the grasp she was held in as she tried to warn her lover about the danger behind her; and seconds later, she had to admit that she had failed as the man swung his club and hit the demon in the head, making sure to stay at her blind side, a grunt which sounded both surprised and pained coming from her as the club connected.

Stumbling, Pat fought to stay on her feet, knowing she couldn't let them take her down, not with three of them so dangerously close to kidnapping her lover; before she could even regain her footing though, the club smashed into her head again, warm blood flowing a second later while she went down, hearing Willow cry out, the sound being enough to force her up on her hands and knees again.

Gritting her teeth, she tried to ignore how the world was spinning around her and how much her head hurt; and then, the club came down for a third and final time, slamming into the back of her head and knocking her out, the last thing she heard before blacking out being yet another cry of her lover, along with the laughter of the man who had taken her down.

* * *

"Let go of me!" Willow half snapped, half shrieked, struggling against the hold the men had on her; now that her lover was out cold, or perhaps even dead, they didn't bother to cover her mouth anymore, giving her a chance to voice her dismay about their treatment of her as they dragged her through the woods.

"Shut up", the guy with the knife, obviously some sort of leader of the group, snarled at her, "or we'll gag you."

"Let go I said!", the witch demanded in reply, keeping up her struggles, eager to break free and run back to her partner, to make sure that she was alright, "or you'll regret it!"

"I've had enough of this", the leader decided as an answer, bringing the knife up again; Willow had a second to ask herself if he'd just slit her throat now, after having figured out that she'd be more trouble than she was worth – and then he swung the weapon, slamming the blunt hilt against the side of her head, hard enough to cause stars to explode in front of her eyes.

Still she kept up the struggles, not willing to let one physical attack stop her; the leader of the thugs let out another snarl, then whacked her again and again, until she was close to blacking out, fighting to stay conscious now as she hung limply in the grips of her kidnappers.

"There", she heard the guy grumble, accompanied by the chuckles his cronies were letting out, "much better. Don't worry, woman, we ain't planning to keep ya. Soon as your friend paid us, ya're free to reunite with her."

All she could do in response was let out a weak groan, still struggling to stay awake, telling herself that she had to remember where they were taking her; after the blows to her head though, she felt so dazed that the world was spinning and blurring in front of her eyes, a dreadful feeling of nausea settling in her stomach and making her feel like throwing up.

"Almost there", she heard one of the men comment, briefly asking herself how long they already had been dragging her through the forest, and if she perhaps had blacked out several times during the trip, without even being aware of it; giving her best to keep her eyes open, she tried to focus on her surroundings, only to feel despair well up within her when she had to realize that she no idea where in the vast forest they were.

Asking herself how her lover was ever supposed to find her there, she tried to spot something distinctive, something which would help her to find her way back to the place where Pat and she had been attacked; before she could see anything useful though, the bandits dragging her along apparently had reached their destination, since they stopped abruptly, then let go of her unexpectedly, a startled cry coming from as she dropped down to the ground, ending up on all fours.

Even though she still felt dizzy and nauseous, Willow forced herself to raise her head, to her slight surprise finding herself in what looked like a makeshift camp; crude tents made of animal hide and sticks had been put up in a circle, the approximate middle of said circle marked by a fire pit, the sad remains of the deer they had grilled over the pit lying on the ground next to it, having attracted a swarm of flies, the smell of the meat nearly making the redhead retch despite her best tries to hold it back.

"Alright", she heard the leader say, his feet and legs moving into her field of view moments later as he stepped in front of her, "now we got a few hours until your companion's ready to deal with us again, don'tcha think? Hamish over there gave her a few good ones. So how should we pass the time?"

From the way his companions were grinning and leering at her, Willow had a pretty good idea about how they might want to pass the time; within seconds, her blood ran cold, all her dizziness and nausea vanishing when she was grabbed and roughly hauled to her feet again, the leader looking at her with a lusty glint in his eyes.

"I get first go", he then told his mates, already reaching for the length of rope he used as a belt, "you can have her when I'm done. Hold her down."

"No!" Willow protested as they dragged her to the nearest spot clear enough of branches to force her flat on her back, ignoring her struggles as one of the men took firm hold of her wrists and securing them above her head, only letting out a harsh chuckle at her tries to break free of his grasp.

"No, stop!" the witch cried out as two more men approached her, both of them grinning widely as well, exposing brown and rotten teeth; as she realized what they intended to do, she kicked wildly at them, even managing to fend them off for a minute – until one of them managed to wrap his hands around her calf and forced her leg down onto the ground, his companion following suit moments later, panic rising within her as they spread her legs and the leader of the thugs approached her, the bulge in his pants making it obvious that he wasn't willing to waste any time.

"Don't touch me!" Willow shrieked as he knelt down between her spread legs and grabbed her hips, the sound of her skirt tearing mixing with the cry she let out; he took a moment to snarl at her that she should shut her mouth and that no one would hear her, anyway, then his dirty, rough and callused hands slid from her thighs up to her hips and beneath her shirt, the redhead squirming beneath his unwelcome touch when she felt his fingers grab her breasts.

"Stop it!" she nearly pleaded, wincing when he squeezed rather harshly, looking as if he'd start to drool any moment, "please! Get your hands off me!"

"Keep holdin' her", the man snarled in reply, moving one hand to his pants and hurriedly opening them, "last thing I need is that she kicks me in the balls!"

He pulled his pants down and exposed himself, the redhead's panic reaching new heights at the sight of him; and when he grabbed her skirt and started to pull it down harshly, as well, she forgot all the promises she had made to herself about never using magic against another human again after the incident with Warren and grasped the power deep within her, her eyes briefly filled with darkness as she unleashed the magic, reaching out for something, anything, she could use as a weapon, her eyes narrowing as she found the perfect object not too far away.

Giving her best now to keep the panic at bay, she focused, the man holding her arms looking startled as he noticed the change of her eye colour; before he could say anything though, perhaps try to warn his mates, the deer antlers were ripped from the carcass with an audible fleshy noise and shot through the air, hitting the leader in the back with enough force to go all the way through, a strangled, surprised cry coming from him as the dull antlers burst out of his chest, blood splattering everywhere.

"Oh God!" the witch heard one of the men cry out, the hold on her arms and legs vanishing moments later, making it possible for her to hurriedly sit up; from the corner of her eye, she saw the bandit who'd had the grip on her wrists reach for his weapon, a crudely made dagger, and her eyes narrowed again as she concentrated and reached for it with her power, the weapon flying out of his hand moments later and up, the blade embedding itself deep in his eye, killing him before he even had the chance to cry out.

"She's a witch!" she heard another man cry out, panic in his voice now, a malicious smile curling her lips as she thought of how quickly the tables had turned, how quickly she had gone from fearing them to making them fear hear; she moved to look at the one who had cried out, ready to finish him as quickly as she had dealt with his companions, and that was when something hard came down on the back of her head with shocking force, the darkness vanishing from her eyes a split second before she blacked out as unconsciousness took her.


	9. Chapter 9

When Pat came back around, she had no idea how long she had been unconscious; from the way the shadows had moved though, it was clear that she had been dead to the world for quite some time, a low groan escaping her as she turned her head and immediately, a lance of pain shot from her brain through her whole body, prompting her to grit her teeth and to clench her fists.

"Come on", she then muttered to herself, forcing herself to roll on her back first, then sit up once she could be sure she wouldn't black out again, "you can do this, you can handle that… You've handled worse than that…"

She took a few more moments to make sure she wouldn't collapse again or throw up, clutching the nearest tree for support when the world started to spin around her; gritting her teeth, she forced herself to remain upright, reminding herself of the fact that those bandits had taken her lover and that she had to do anything to get her out before serious harm could be done to her.

"I'm gonna make you pay", she told no one in particular, squinting as she found the spot where the witch had been standing when they had grabbed her, the broken branches and trampled grass leading away form said spot showing quite well in which direction she had been dragged off; smirking to herself, the demon took a step closer to the trail, only to freeze on the spot when behind her, a loud crack echoed through the woods, following by the thump of a tree hitting the ground.

With her heart hammering up to her throat as the noises repeated themselves, telling her that yet another tree had fallen, and signalling the approach of an unsettlingly big creature, she turned around; and moments later, her breath got caught in her throat and her good eye went wide as she saw the massive dragon move closer to her, the glowing red eyes fixated on her, yet another tree falling as the beast almost casually swiped it aside with a motion of one foreleg.

"Oh crap", was all the black haired woman could bring out, automatically taking a step back even though she knew it was useless – from the way the dragon was staring at her, it obviously already had spotted her, and probably had decided that she would make a tasty afternoon snack.

Swallowing heavily, Pat took another step back anyway, trying to figure out if she could fight this thing, if it had any weak points she could attack; from what she could see though, the whole, truck-sized body of the creature was covered with black and red scales, and if anything she had read about dragons back in her home world was true, they'd be hard as steel, impossible to penetrate without a weapon.

One more tree was snapped as the dragon moved closer to her, the glowing red eyes never leaving her; and then, the beast opened its massive jaws, exposing large and unsettlingly sharp teeth, and roared, a gust of hot breath blowing the demon's hair back and forcing her to squeeze her eye shut.

She still had time for a last, frantic thought, one Willow would have scolded her for thanks to the dirty language it contained – before fire shot from the dragon's gullet and engulfed her, roaring and crackling as it burned everything around her.

* * *

By the time the flame finally stopped, the dragon was looking almost content, obviously in anticipation of a tasty, roasted meal; thus, the demon almost felt sorry for the beast when it faltered, then gave her a hard stare, taking in the burnt earth all around her and the fact that not even one of her hairs had been singed.

For a moment, Pat got a good look at the dragon's face, and she could have sworn that, if the beast would have had eyebrows, it would have raised them in confusion; then, the dragon roared again and spat fire at her once more, the flames once again washing over her body harmlessly, puffing away into nothingness a few feet behind her.

"That's not working, buddy", the demon called out, raising her voice to be heard over the crackle of the fire; and moments later, it stopped, the dragon looking completely confused now, the same emotion in its voice when it spoke up, making the black haired woman jump with the realization that it could talk.

"Why won't you burn?!" he roared at her, the sound of his voice identifying him as a male, "this is impossible! I am Sahrotaar, mighty dragon of the north! Burn, insolent mortal!"

Momentarily, she felt tempted to tell him that she wasn't actually mortal, then remembered though that she had given up her immortality and just shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest and giving him her best glare, even letting her good eye flare up red to match his gaze as she responded.

"And I'm Pat, mighty demon of another world, so mind your tongue", she told him, feeling a bit stupid for talking that way, but figuring that she'd have the best chances to keep him from eating her raw if she met him on his terms, and clearly, showing off about abilities and titles, real or imagined, was a good way to do so.

"A demon", the dragon repeated, now lowering his massive head to get a closer look at her, sounding mildly interested instead of massively annoyed as he went on, "you're made of fire, just like me."

"…something like that, yeah", the black haired woman agreed, figuring it might be wiser to do that than to argue what exactly she was with the beast, "so you'll have to find your snack somewhere… else…"

She trailed off as a thought hit her, an evil glint entering her eye while a just as malicious smirk curled her lips; and then, she stepped closer to Sahrotaar, looking him in the eyes as she went on, her words making the dragon smirk slightly, as well, showing that they had connected on a level only made possible by their shared love of fire.

"Say, Sahrotaar, my friend", the demon started, reaching up with one hand and patting the dragon's long neck, "how do you like roasted bandit?"

* * *

The first thing Willow realized as she came out of the darkness was that she was standing upright, which was odd, since she figured that, as an unconscious person, she should be lying down; then, she felt the ropes around her upper body, wrapped tightly around her right beneath her breasts, her arms pulled behind her and bound at the wrists, forcing her into the upright position.

At her back, she could feel rough wood, her still dazed brain nearly reeling as she tried to figure out what was going on; and as she forced her eyes open and saw the wood piled at her feet, she realized with a pang of fear what exactly was happening, flashing back to the dreadful time back in High School, when the parents of the town had gone crazy and had decided that they had to burn Buffy, Amy and her at the stake.

"…killed them both, with her magic!" she heard a vaguely familiar voice, trying to ignore how the world started to spin around her as she forced herself to raise her head and look at her surroundings; to her surprise, she found herself back in the city, in the middle of a rather large plaza, bound to a wooden stake, a bunch of townspeople and some of the bandits, now without their masks on, standing around her and looking at her with open hostility and contempt.

"She's a witch!" the bandit now made his point clear, obviously eager to get that point across, "she killed two of us! We need to burn her, cleanse our land of her presence!"

"…me", Willow mumbled in reply, to her dismay finding herself unable to get out the words she had wanted to say, namely the not unimportant fact that those men had been about to rape her and that she only had defended herself; her fear only grew when several of the townspeople and bandits shrank back, one of them even raising his hand as if to ward of some sort of attack.

"…taken me", she tried again, flexing her fingers as they already started to tingle, her circulation cut off by the rough rope, "attacked me… in the woods…"

To her increasing worry, they either didn't hear her or didn't care what she had to say; by now, the bandit who obviously had taken the lead was painting a vivid, colourful picture of how she had killed one of them by ramming a set of deer antlers through his back with enough force so they'd burst out through his chest, with the sheer power of her mind and magic, and no matter what she might have had to say about it, she realized that it'd all be in vain when the townspeople glared at her, the braver ones shaking their fists at her while the ones who weren't quite as valiant took a few steps away from her.

"Burn her!" one of them called out once he was out of sight, hidden behind two other men, probably thinking that she couldn't harm him if she couldn't see him, "burn the witch!"

For a few moments, there was silence, and she almost dared to hope that a few of them would see reason, would give her a chance to tell her side of the story and convince them that this was wrong; and perhaps, she might have had the chance, hadn't she been tied to the stake already, the only thing needed to set the event in motion being a source of flame, provided by a member of the bandits seconds later, the oil-soaked rags wrapped around the wood flaming up with an audible _whoomp _that made her heart skip a beat.

"No", she brought out, the pain in her head forgotten as she started tearing at the ropes, to no avail though, "no, don't do this! Listen, you're making a terrible mistake!"

"Burn the witch!" she heard another man take up the cry in response, giving her a second to wonder how long she had been knocked out and how well those bandits had used that unknown timespan to rile the townspeople up against her; then, several more voices joined the first shouter, and not too long after that, they all were yelling, pure anger and hatred on their faces now, a rock flying from somewhere in the mob moments later and barely missing her, sailing past her close enough to make her flinch.

"Burn the witch! Burn the witch!" they kept chanting, the man with the torch not moving closer though, not yet; frantically, she tried to find a spell which would help her get out of this, something to loosen her bonds or extinguish the torch, just a small demonstration of her magic, enough to scare them, but not to harm them – she had done more than enough harm with her magic in the past few hours, knowing that she'd feel the whole weight of what she had done later, once the danger was over.

_If you get out of this alive, _she had to realize, her mind still racing as she tried to find a way out of this; her gaze swept over the crowd as she briefly, just for a second, allowed herself the hope that her partner was coming to her rescue, as she had so often ever since they had gotten together, but she already knew that she was hoping in vain before she had finished the quick search of the mob and was unable to spot her lover's tall and wiry form among them.

_She was out cold when they dragged you off, _she was forced to remember, the crowd by now just chanting "Burn, burn, burn" over and over, obviously having decided that this was easier to yell in unison than the previous three words they had been shouting, _so even if she woke up again quickly, there's no way she'll make it here in time… I have to find a way out of this…_

Her mind swam as she tried to find the right spell; she had used one to free herself of bonds quite some time ago, when she had been tied up in a trunk, kidnapped by a treacherous earth demon, but back then, she'd had the peace and quiet to focus on the magic, unlike now, with a mob screaming for her blood, the man with the torch finding his courage now and approaching her slowly, holding the torch out to make sure she could feel the heat of it before the wood and kindling piled up around her feet had even started to burn.

"Burn her!" one of the few female spectators encouraged him, even pushing him slightly, "do it! Set her on fire and cleanse our home from her wickedness!"

"Burn her!" the other members of the mob agreed heartily, and he took a few more steps forward, lowering the torch; and just as it touched the wood and smoke started to curl from the kindling, a loud roar echoed over the plaza, making them all flinch and look around in surprise, just in time for the strong breeze which was coming up to blow their hair backwards and out of their faces, as if to make sure they all could see what was happening.

One by one, they fell silent as they stared, their mouths hanging open almost comically; and at the stake, Willow had the same facial expression as most members of the mob, unable to believe her eyes, asking herself if she had lost her mind now, if her tries to find a spell in combination with her fear and panic had snapped something in her brain and was making her see things.

"A dragon!" one of the townspeople now cried out, confirming with just two words that she was perfectly sane and that what she was seeing was real; as if in response, the dragon roared again as it kept approaching with powerful beats of the shockingly large wings, easily carrying its bulky body through the air, despite the fact that it was as big as a truck and technically shouldn't be able to fly.

"Oh Goddess", the witch whispered as the beast flew nearer and nearer, finally getting close enough to give them all a really good look at it; several of them screamed, and the torch fell to the ground as the fingers of the man holding it went numb, his gaze fixated on the dragon, taking in the red and black scales and the glowing red eyes, a small, breathless whimper escaping him when the beast let out yet another roar.

While the mere sight of the dragon would have been enough to stun Willow as well, it wasn't just the appearance of the creature that made her breathless and sent her heart rate through the roof – on the back of the dragon, just where its long neck merged with its torso, Pat was sitting, her legs clamped firmly to keep her from falling off, one hand wrapped around one of the spikes rising from the dragon's back while the other was burning brightly, her good eye glowing just as red as the creature's, showing how angry she was, an emotion the townspeople could also hear through her voice as she called out to them.

"You want fire?" the demon snarled, with a distinctive growl in her voice, glaring at the shocked men and women, "I'll _give you fire!"_

Again the dragon opened its jaws wide, but this time, no roar came from the long throat; instead, fire burst out in a white-hot stream, making the townspeople scream again as most of them ran for cover, only a few remaining where they were, either too scared to move or too stupid to realize that this was no time for bravery.

The ground shook noticeably as the dragon finally landed, folding its wings and glaring around; its gaze fixed on the bandit who had been holding the torch not too long ago, the man's eyes widening in response before he turned and started to run, a harsh scream erupting from his throat seconds later as fire engulfed him, the demon not even looking at him though as she jumped off the dragon's back and marched up to the stake, her determined stride and the way she glared at the bystanders being enough to keep anyone from interfering.

Without even glancing down, she stomped on the small portion of wood the torch had set on fire before her rather unorthodox arrival; fortunately for the witch, the flames hadn't been even remotely close to her, something she didn't really notice though as she kept staring at her lover, still trying to cope with the entrance the taller woman just had made.

"You alright?" Pat wanted to know as she grasped the ropes, not bothering with the knots, but simply using a burst of her demon strength to tear them apart; still feeling shell-shocked, all Willow could do was nod in reply, even though the beginnings of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth when the black haired woman held one hand out to her and gestured at the massive dragon with the other, a hint of mischief in her good eye as she spoke on. "Great, your carriage awaits then, my Lady…"

Even though the thought of riding on the back of that huge beast didn't exactly appeal to the witch, she just nodded while she grasped her partner's hand; for a second, the taller woman's face softened as she squeezed her hand tenderly, then she turned to look at the few townspeople still left standing in the plaza, and the expression was gone, replaced by the cold hardness she had displayed, none of the watching men and women saying a word as she led the redhead to the dragon and they both climbed on the beast's back, just watching in stunned silence how the creature beat its wings and took off, circling until it had gained enough height before it vanished towards the forest, leaving stunned townspeople and a few burning buildings in its wake.


	10. Chapter 10

Only once the dragon had made it back to the forest and had landed safely on a clearing there, Pat let her relief about finding her partner alright and in one piece show, pulling her into a tight embrace the moment they had gotten off the dragon, the redhead by now having gotten over her shock enough to return the hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay", the demon breathed into her ear, her voice trembling just enough to let her notice, "I don't even want to imagine what they would have done to you if we hadn't made it in time…"

"I have to say, you arriving on the back of a dragon was the last thing I expected", Willow gave back, smiling slightly, attempting to lighten the mood a bit, "where did you find it and how did you get it to—"

"I am not an it, young human", the dragon interrupted her, sounding pissed and making her squeal in shock and surprise, having expected the dragon to talk even less than her partner's dramatic entrance, "I am male, the mighty Sahrotaar!"

"…nice to meet you?" Willow gave back once she could be sure she wouldn't faint on the spot; this seemed to placate the creature somewhat, since he let out a huff, then his gaze focused on the demon again, making her smirk with what he said next. "I shall go back to the village, and get the roasted bandit you promised me. Would you like another ride on my back, my friend?"

Even though Pat looked thrilled at the prospect, one look at the witch's face told her that her partner wasn't sharing her enthusiasm; thus, she smirked and shook her head, then let the dragon know that they still had to find some stuff anyway and would return to the city later one, once they'd got it all.

"As you wish", the dragon replied, then took off with a few beats of his mighty wings; Pat waved after him, then turned to look at her partner again, a bit taken aback by the way Willow was rising an eyebrow at her.

"What?" she asked after a moment, frowning when in response, Willow started giggling seconds later, shaking her head as she looked up at the taller woman, her voice full of amusement when she replied.

"Riding in on a dragon to save me?" she wanted to know, still interrupting herself with giggles after every other word, "seriously? I thought riding on a huge bear was the highlight, but clearly, you had to top that."

"Well, what can I say", the demon shrugged in response, now smirking again, as well, "sometimes, I just have to do the epic entrance. And hey, it was the only way to get there fast enough so they wouldn't kill you!"

"I know", Willow reassured her, "but still, it was… well, I think you describing it as epic fit quite well. How did you get him to take you to the village?"

"That wasn't hard", the taller woman gave back, digging out her cigarettes and lighting one of them up, "he more or less found me just after I had woken up again from the knock-out this one asshole gave me, and tried to grill me. Thankfully, I'm fireproof though, so he had no such luck, and then decided that, since we're both made of fire, as he put it, I'm his new best friend. And to get on his really good side, I offered him roasted bandit to make up for the snack he missed when he couldn't fry me."

"And a good thing he couldn't do that", Willow gave back, shuddering at the thought of what might had happened if their roles in this whole ordeal had been reversed, the dragon coming upon her instead of her lover and frying her with ease, "or this whole… adventure would have ended really badly for both of us."

"Stupid townspeople", Pat grumbled in reply, momentarily frowning again, somehow managing to cross her arms over her chest without dropping or breaking her cigarette, "trying to burn you at the stake. I should have let him fry them all."

"It's not their fault", the witch replied at once, not really surprising her partner, "after… what I did to those guys, it's no surprise they were freaking out and scared."

"What did you do?" the taller woman wanted to know in reply; in response, Willow swallowed heavily, only now realizing fully what she had done, her knees feeling faint all at once, some of her emotions apparently showing on her face since all at once, Pat looked alarmed and took a step closer to her, ready to catch her the moment her legs would give in beneath her.

"I killed two of them", she brought out in a toneless voice, feeling faint, "they were… holding me down, talking about how they wanted to have pass the time, and there was this deer they had eaten earlier, with the antlers, so I used the magic and stabbed one of them with the antlers and then another one had a dagger and I did magic again…"

Part of her realized that she was babbling and she wasn't breathing right, that she'd start hyperventilating any moment now and then maybe faint, but she couldn't stop herself, the words tumbling from her mouth in a chaotic rush now, without making much sense anymore – and then strong arms wrapped around her and held her tight, but gently, a shuddery breath coming from her as she felt Pat's hands come to a tender rest on her back, the demon's voice down to a low rumble when she spoke into her ear, told her to calm down.

"It's alright", the black haired woman went on when in response, Willow just tried to focus on her breathing, trembling in her embrace, "it's alright, calm down… Slow and steady, that's the way, yeah, just like that, it's okay…"

"I killed them", the redhead almost whimpered in reply, clutching to her now the way a drowning person might hang on to the lifesaving board of wood, "I killed them, both of them, I killed them… I promised myself I'd never do this again after Warren, and now I killed them…"

"It's okay", Pat repeated, once more reminding her partner of her demonic nature and the fact that she didn't have as much a problem with killing people as a regular person, "with what they were planning to do to you, it was the only thing you could do to stop them. And they would have killed you with even less remorse, don't forget that…"

"This isn't what I learned magic for", Willow brought out in response, now, to the taller woman's alarm, sounding as if she was close to tears, "to defend myself, yes, but not to murder people in cold blood… with deer antlers…"

All at once, the image of how said antlers had rammed all the way through the bandit's body appeared in her mind's eye, and her stomach turned; to her relief, Pat clearly realized what was happening, since she let go of her at once, making it possible for her to turn away and even take a few steps before she fell to her knees and threw up, tears filling her eyes and blurring her vision.

"There, there", she heard the black haired woman mumble next to her moments later, accompanied by a tender hand rubbing her back, "it's alright…"

"I had no choice", Willow brought in response, once she could be sure she wouldn't throw up again the moment she'd open her mouth, "I didn't want to kill them, I didn't, but I had no choice…"

"I know", the demon reassured her, pulling her into an embrace yet again when it seemed that she had finished vomiting, "I know, it's alright…"

As an answer, Willow just held on her to her, taking deep and slow breaths in an attempt to calm down; and since she had run out of reassuring words to say, Pat just kept holding her, rubbing her back soothingly and trying to give her the comfort she so obviously needed, for as long as she'd need it.


	11. Chapter 11

It took quite some time for Willow to calm down again, and by the time she had, she felt drained and tired, all the day's excitement taking its toll on her; and thus, the demon suggested that they should finish their task in next day, reminding her of the fact that they still had to get the mistletoe, making the redhead nod in agreement.

"We can do that tomorrow", she agreed tiredly, rubbing her eyes in an attempt to keep herself from falling asleep on the spot, "at least, I didn't lose the other stuff we already collected… I hope Hecate won't be annoyed if it takes us so long to get back to her."

"Even if she is", the taller woman shrugged, clearly not all too perturbed by the thought, "she won't be anymore once we tell her what happened. If she doesn't know already. Worst that might happen, she might get mad at me for letting those thugs kidnap you."

"I doubt that", Willow gave back at once, not really surprising her partner, "you fought so hard to keep them away from me, it's not your fault one of those cowards snuck up to your blind side."

"Coward describes him well", the demon grumbled, making Willow smile slightly – before she glanced around, for the first time consciously taking in their surroundings, the small clearing where the dragon had dropped them off, the sound of the river not too far away, making her realize how thirsty and hungry she was.

"Think we can stay here for the rest of the day?" she wanted to know, her gaze focusing on her partner again, "the river seems not too far away, but if those bandits come back… The ones still alive…"

"I doubt it", Pat gave back at once, "by now, they will have learned about what happened to their buddy, and even though they didn't seem all too smart, I'm quite sure they won't go after someone who's apparently friends with a big bad dragon."

"Good point", the witch had to agree with a giggle, making the taller woman smirk slightly – before she made a vague gesture in the direction of the river, then asked her lover if she was up to going there and get some food and water.

"Yes", Willow agreed at once, "and afterwards, I'm all for getting some rest. This day has been much more exciting than I thought it would be."

"Tell me about it", Pat grumbled her agreement, shaking her head, "why is it that we can't even go out to collect some herbs and stuff without ending up attacked and in mortal danger? Sometimes I wonder if we're magnets for these things."

"Well, we are from Sunnydale", Willow reminded her with a giggle as she came to her feet, "I think this kinda predestines us for weird stuff happening to us."

"I'm not from Sunnydale, I just moved there", Pat pointed out in response, "but I suppose you're right. Maybe I've been living there long enough to qualify for the magnet-thing."

"Apparently", the redhead giggled as they started walking towards the river together, "and also, the fact that you're a demon, in a relationship with a witch and close friends with the Slayer probably helps."

"Could be", the taller woman agreed with a smirk of her own; they briefly smiled at each other, then the black haired woman stopped walking to bend down and kiss her partner tenderly, a small, but content sigh escaping the witch as she felt her lover's lips on hers.

Thanks to the fact that now, they were alone in the forest, with no one around to see them and maybe react badly at their relationship, they let the kiss deepen; and as she felt Pat tighten her embrace around her and pull her even closer, all the thoughts about what she had done to those bandits were forgotten, pushed into oblivion by the love and care she could feel from her partner.

* * *

After having made their way to the river, where Pat once again had caught dinner for them in the form of fish she snatched out of the water, the couple did what they had been eager to after all the excitement – they took it easy for the rest of the day, settling down next to the river and just hanging around there, talking about whatever came to their minds and wondering how the rest of the gang was doing without them back in Sunnydale.

"I hope nothing dreadful happened while we were gone", Willow pondered out loud, "the last thing we need once we get back would be to return and end up in the middle of an apocalypse."

"True", the demon agreed at once, digging out her cigarettes as she went on and peering into the pack, looking slightly regretful as their number had been quite diminished, but lightening one of them up anyway, then carefully putting the pack back into her pocket, "but I think they'll be okay. We haven't been here for that long, and once we got the mistletoe tomorrow, Hecate can send us back."

"Let's hope this will work out", the witch sighed, moving so she could place her head in her partner's lap as she stretched out on the ground, glad that for once, she didn't seem to be lying on any stones or roots, "as much trouble as we usually have in Sunnydale, I really want to go back home. At least it's been years there since someone tried to burn me at the stake."

"And I got more cigarettes there", the demon grumbled as she moved her free hand to caress the redhead's hair, making her giggle slightly, a low snort coming from the taller woman at those sounds of amusement.

"Don't laugh", she then chided, not fully serious though, as the twinkle in her good eye showed, "once I run out of cigarettes, you know I'll get cranky. As cranky as I get if I don't beat something up for too long."

"I'm sure we can find you some more bandits", Willow gave back, shifting slightly to get more comfortable, a hearty yawn escaping her afterwards – now that the danger was over, her belly was full and her thirst had been sated, tiredness took over yet again, her eyelids suddenly seeming to each weigh a ton.

"Get some sleep", she heard Pat murmur, the taller woman's hand still tenderly caressing her hair, the gentle touch not making it easier for her to stay awake, "I'll keep an eye out, so you can rest easy."

"But you should get some sleep, too", Willow protested feebly, still struggling to keep her eyes open; in response, the black haired woman reminded her of her demonic nature and that technically, she didn't need as much sleep as regular people.

"I'll keep you safe", she then added, "sleep well. I love you."

"Love you, too", the witch mumbled, finally losing the fight against her tiredness; her eyes fell close, and not even a minute later, she was fast asleep, slumbering soundly through the night, with her partner keeping watch as she had said, making sure that no one would disturb this little bit of peace they had found after all the troubles the day had brought them.

* * *

At first, Willow had been reluctant about going back to the town, worried that the townspeople might attack them on sight; on the other hand, as Pat had pointed out, they didn't have much of a choice, having to get back to the temple so the Goddess could send them back to their world, now that they had found the mistletoe first thing in the morning and thus had all Hecate needed to do her magic.

Shortly after they had entered the town again though, she realized that her worries had been unnecessary; she recognized a few faces from the mob who had been there the day before, willing to burn her, but they all hastily looked away the moment her gaze met theirs, even making sure to give Pat and her a wide berth, if they happened to be walking towards the witch and the demon.

"Either they sobered up from the mob mentality and are ashamed", she observed after this had happened for the fourth time, in form of a young woman who even had blushed as she had hurried past the couple, making sure to stay out of reach, "or they're afraid I'll turn them into frogs. Or that you might call your dragon friend."

"Probably", Pat gave back, not letting it show if keeping watch all night had tired her out, "even though I prefer the thought that they are ashamed. Would redeem them at least a little bit."

Even though she still didn't think that the townspeople were entirely to blame for what had happened, Willow nodded, noticing from the corner of her eye how another man she recognized from the mob made some sort of symbol in her direction, probably to ward off her evil eye or something; ignoring him, she focused on the task up ahead, once more checking her pockets to make sure they really had everything Hecate would need for the spell to send them back home.

"Let's hope there won't be any further delays", she then said, once she had convinced herself everything was there, "the others must be worried sick by now, and I really want to go back home."

"Me too", the demon agreed at once, fighting down the urge to light up yet another cigarette, since there were only a few left, "I miss the others. And I miss proper coffee."

"No surprise there", Willow giggled, looking up at her with a hint of mischief in her green eyes, "actually, I'm surprised you're not reacting much worse to being deprived of coffee. You do act as if it is your life elixir when we're at home."

"Well, it is", Pat gave back without missing a beat, to the obvious amusement of her partner, "just wait, the moment we get back home, I'll raid the Espresso Pump and buy a year's worth of coffee and drink it all at once."

"Please don't", Willow shook her head as they approached the temple together, "I don't even want to imagine what this might do to you."

"Make me really hyper, I suppose", the demon shrugged, clearly not very perturbed by the thought; the witch gave her another strict look in response, then they entered the temple together and made their way to the altar room, not surprised this time when the Goddess manifested the moment they stepped inside.

"Forgive me for not helping when you were in turmoil back there", were the first words which came from Hecate's mouth, "but, as I said, unfortunately, my magic is quite limited here. I have to say though, I am impressed, you solved the whole mess quite heroically, Pat."

"Yeah, well", the demon shrugged in reply, to Willow's amusement looking slightly embarrassed at this clearly unexpected compliment, "what can I say, it wasn't like I had much of a choice…"

"I never doubted that you'd get her out of this mess", Hecate reassured her, then seemed to remember why they had come to her temple in the first place, giving them a curious look as she asked if they had gotten everything she had asked for.

"Yes", Willow confirmed, emptying her pockets and lining the items Hecate had asked for up on the altar, "here they are. I hope we didn't forget anything or got something wrong…"

"You didn't", the Goddess reassured her after taking a quick look at the stuff, "this should be more than sufficient to send you back home. Take hold of each other's hands please and…"

Before she could finish her sentence, voices came up just outside the temple, making both Willow and Pat flinch while the Goddess merely raised an eyebrow, clearly above such reactions, even though the things the voices were saying were a reason for concern.

"…in there", a male voice was saying, sounding slightly upset and worried, "who knows what they might be doing to our temple!"

"We're not doing anything", Willow mumbled, even though they weren't close enough yet to hear her; Hecate gave her a smile and nodded, then spoke up again, briefly making the couple wonder if the men and women outside could hear her and what they might think of what the Goddess was saying to them.

"We better hurry with the spell", she advised, glancing towards the hallway where now, the voices were coming from, moving closer to the altar room, "I don't think these people can be convinced that you don't mean to desecrate my altar or do something equally unpleasant to it."

"Probably not", Pat agreed, reaching out and grasping both of Willow's hands, the witch returning her grip with slight anxiety; they still had time to exchange a look, then Hecate started speaking, in a language neither the witch, nor the demon ever had heard before, moving her hands over the herbs the couple had brought to the temple.

And just as she said the last few words, her voice rising slightly, the doors leading to the altar room flew open and the men and women came rushing inside; involuntarily, Willow let out a small startled noise, the sound mixing with the last syllables coming from the Goddess' mouth, and then, a bright flash of light came up, engulfing both Pat and her, and for a while, both of them were blinded, until the world went dark around them again.


	12. Chapter 12

"Urgh", was the first sound which came from Willow as she found herself able to open her eyes again, her stomach turning and clenching up, as if she just had gone off a wild rollercoaster; slowly, not wanting to throw up, she sat up, glancing around, momentarily relieved to see that apparently, they were back in Sunnydale, the spell having transported them to one of the many cemeteries the town had, to her slight relief – after all, even in Sunnydale, it might have been difficult to explain why they popped up out of nowhere in the middle of a busy street.

"Pat?" she called out as she looked around, her relief increasing when she spotted her partner on the ground several feet away; in response, the demon let out a low grunt, then sat up as well, shaking her head slightly as if to clear it before her gaze met Willow's.

"Well", she then stated, coming to her feet and moving over to the redhead, who let it happen that the taller woman grasped her hand, even though she hadn't really needed help to get up, "seems like it worked."

"Yeah, thankfully", Willow gave back, looking around, almost expecting a vampire to pop out of his grave, as some sort of morbid welcome back committee, "but now, my tummy feels as if I took a dozen rides on a rollercoaster."

"So does mine, if it makes you feel better", Pat let her know, "so I suggest we head home, call Buffy from there to tell her we are back, and then make sure we do nothing strenuous for the rest of the night."

"Good plan", Willow agreed at once, making the taller woman smile at her; then, she grasped her hand, something they hadn't done much back in that strange other world, since they never had found out how exactly the people there might have reacted to their relationship.

Glancing around again just to make sure no vampires were waiting to jump them, the couple started walking, towards the cemetery gate, glad that by now, they knew each and every cemetery in Sunnydale well enough to figure out at once where they had to go; still, something felt odd about the whole situation to Willow, the witch feeling a hint of unease as she glanced around the cemetery.

"Something's odd", she voiced those feelings to her partner, not quite sure how to describe them, "I don't really know how to explain it, but it just… feels strange."

"Same here", the taller woman let her know, to her relief, since she had been wondering if maybe, the travel spell had messed with her head, "I can't quite put my finger on it, but something's odd."

"I'm glad you agree", the redhead sighed out, her grip on the black haired woman's hand tightening slightly, "I'm not really sure what it is, but… Something just feels… off."

"Where are all the people?" Pat wanted to know as they stepped out of the cemetery together and onto the empty sidewalk, looking around with a frown, "I mean, I know that it's not the wisest thing to hang around at a cemetery at night, especially not in Sunnydale, but usually, there's always someone around."

As if this had been a cue, a car drove by, the passengers yelling and hooting loudly; the first glance told them both that this wasn't a regular joyride though, since all four passengers and the driver were demons, a gasp escaping the witch as the car drove past them and she got a good look at the gruesome creatures.

"…maybe there was an apocalypse while we were gone", Pat mumbled next to her, sounding just as dismayed as Willow was feeling, "we better go and find Buffy, make sure they're all okay."

"Yes", the witch agreed at once, "if we make it there… Goddess, that reminds me of the time after we resurrected Buffy and this gang came to Sunnydale, a demon biker gang, and wrecked havoc…"

"Why does Sunnydale attract these things", Pat sighed in reply, "you know, maybe we really should consider moving somewhere else once you got your PhDs."

"Then you'll get cranky if you can't beat anything up for too long", Willow reminded her, only to stiffen seconds later as a demon stepped out of one of the side alleys up ahead, glancing left and right – and then coming their way, the demon tensing up as he approached, getting ready for a fight.

"Stay behind me", she murmured from the corner of her mouth, making sure the other demon couldn't hear her, "I want you out of the line of fire in case this guy's gonna make trouble."

Nodding, Willow got ready to move behind her as the demon kept approaching; and then, to her endless surprise, he raised a clawed hand and waved, smiling an unsettling smile full of sharp and pointy teeth, his voice jovial and friendly as he called out to them.

"Hey there!" he hollered, waving enthusiastically, "how you doing? New look for the both of you? Suits you well!"

"Um", Pat gave back, too flabbergasted to reply anything else, while her lover was stunned into merely staring, as well; and then, the other demon's smile slowly faded, a hint of nervousness in his voice as he went on.

"Um, I meant no disrespect", he told the couple, actually shuffling his feet on the sidewalk, "please forgive me if my words offended you…"

"No worries, man", Pat was the first one who regained enough of her wits to give him a reply which actually made sense; he gave her a relieved smile, then told her that he had some business to take care of; she just nodded, still quite dumbstruck, and after another nervous smile, the demon took off, the couple looking after him in shock.

"Okay", Willow finally broke the silence, her gaze moving from the direction the demon had gone off into to her lover, "something's definitely wrong here."

* * *

"At least Buffy's house is still standing", Pat commented half an hour later as they finally reached the Slayer's home, the lights which were on behind the windows showing that someone was at home, as well, both of them hoping that it'd be their friend and not some sort of demon who had taken over.

"Let's see if she'll yell at us for not being here when there was an apocalypse", Willow mumbled, already moving to the front door; behind her, the demon nodded, frowning to herself as she still tried to figure out why that demon had at first acted as if they were best friends and then, at their lack of reaction, had gotten obviously scared of them.

"It's not like it was our fault", she pointed out, not letting her ponderings distract her from the current situation; nodding, Willow gave her worried look, then rang the doorbell, both of them not even noticing how they were holding their breath as they waited for the door to open.

To their relief, it didn't take long until this happened, and Buffy stood in front of them; and to their surprise, the blonde looked relaxed and content, her face lightening up when she spotted the two.

"Hey", she then said, smiling widely at them, "I didn't expect the two of you tonight. Didn't you want to go see Willy tonight? Willow, old-school hair colour again? How come?"

"Um", Willow gave back, not sure what to reply, since she'd had this hair colour all her life, except during her brief forays into evil, "yeah… Just… felt like it…"

"Suits you", Buffy smiled, then her gaze moved on to Pat and she smirked, shaking her head as she took the taller woman in, her next words prompting the demon to raise an eyebrow. "And what's with the patch? Trying to be more badass? Not that you need it."

"…thanks", Pat gave back, making the blonde smile – before she asked them if they wanted to come in, missing the uneasy look the couple exchanged as they did just that, following her inside.

"I was just about to have dinner", Buffy told them as she moved into the kitchen, the two women trailing along behind her, "I'd offer you some, but, well, you know it is…"

And with those words, she moved to the counter where a steaming mug was waiting, picking it up; she gave the couple another smile, then drank, and as she did, her face changed, Willow feeling like fainting on the spot as she saw the bumps and the fangs and the yellow eyes.

"So good", Buffy sighed, licking her lips, so focused on her dinner that she didn't even notice how unsettled both Willow and Pat looked, the witch still appearing as if she might faint on the spot, prompting the demon to place a calming hand on her back, where Buffy wouldn't see.

"You guys are really missing out", the blonde let them know, licking her lips with gusto, "you sure you don't want me to turn you, Will? It won't work with Pat, but it would with you."

"I, I'm sure", Willow gave back, trying to hide how awful this was making her feel when the Slayer took another long drag of the blood, licking her lips again afterwards.

"Almost three years and I'm not even the slightest bit tired of drinking this", she then told the couple, "but enough about me and my like for blood. Are you here for a special reason? I really thought you'd go and get the cash from Willy."

"Just thought we'd drop by", Pat gave back, "see how you're doing."

"How kind of you", Buffy gave back, stepping closer to her, "it has been a while since we just got to hang out together… and…"

She trailed off as her eyes narrowed, her smile slowly fading away while she took in a surprisingly deep breath of air; and a second too late, Willow realized that as a vampire, she didn't need to breathe and what she was doing, but not in time to keep her from letting out a hiss and showing her fangs, all mirth gone from her voice as she spoke on, coldness and anger now filling it.

"Your smell is all wrong", she claimed, glaring at the two with those horrible yellow eyes, "you're not who you claim to be! Fakers! Impostors!"

"Run", Pat brought out, already moving to stand in front of the witch, ignoring her feeble protest, "I'll hold her off as long as I can, I'll find you later! Run!"

"Pat, no", the redhead tried to protest yet again, even though she knew that it might be smarter to run, to get to safety – Buffy already had had massive strength in life, thanks to her calling as the Chosen One, and she could only guess who much stronger the blonde was now, with the added muscle of being a vampire.

"Go!" Pat snapped at her, clearly thinking along the same lines, "_now_!"

And finally, as Buffy let out a growl and lunged at the demon, the impact being enough to drive her a few steps back, Willow had to admit that it was the only smart thing to do, knowing she wouldn't be able to use magic against her best friend, not even when she was like this; she gave Pat an apologetic glance, not even sure if the demon had noticed, still struggling with Buffy, then turned and ran off, the front door slamming close behind her moments later and muffling the sounds of the fight still going on inside.


	13. Chapter 13

Her first instinct was to go to their home, then she decided against it, realizing that, if there was an evil, vampiric version of Buffy in this world, there obviously were an evil Willow and Pat as well, especially considering the comments Buffy had made; and the last thing she needed was to run into them, not wanting to find out how evil exactly the two of them were.

_I wonder what she meant about Willy's, _the redhead pondered as she hurried away from the house, glancing over her shoulder every now and then to make sure Buffy wouldn't come bursting out and chase her, not wanting to imagine what it might mean for her lover's well-being if this should happen.

_Stop it, _she told herself as she rounded the next corner, the house vanishing from her line of sight as she glanced over her shoulder yet again, _she'll be fine, she's a good fighter, you know that…_

Again, the thought of how strong exactly Buffy might be now wanted to come up, but she wouldn't let it, rigorously pushing it to the back of her mind and focusing on her running instead; it didn't take long until she was short of breath, and she vowed to herself that she'd start working out more as soon as they'd be back home.

"Where to go now", she pondered out loud as she made her way through the quiet streets; already back in their world, Sunnydale wasn't all too lively at night, but compared to this, it was a beehive of activity, the people clearly hiding away in their houses from the creatures roaming the street at night.

That in this world, the creatures of the night had taken over was more than evident; she only ran into other more or less living beings twice as she walked around aimlessly, a group of demons once, who gave her a wide berth, and a single vampire, who looked at her quite hungrily, until he seemed to recognize her and backed off, even muttering apologies under his breath.

"Jeez", she muttered to herself as she watched the vampire hurry off, the undead throwing nervous glances at her now and again over his shoulder, as if he was expecting her to come after him, "what did my evil counterpart _do _here?"

Only a second after she had asked that aloud, she realized that she wasn't sure she really wanted to know; shuddering as she remembered how she had acted while juiced up on dark magic, and the behaviour of her vampire doppelganger, she glanced around nervously, almost expecting her evil counterpart to step out of the nearest side alley.

"Alright", she then mumbled to herself, making sure to keep her voice low so no one else would hear her, "you need a plan. Obviously, this is not your homeworld, but without Hecate, you can't go back home, and she'll need ingredients again to do that spell once more… Also, you need to back your girlfriend. Make sure she's okay…"

She fell silent as footsteps approached her, asking herself if it was yet another demon or vampire, and if they would leave her alone, as well; before she could consider ducking into the next alley though, just to be on the safe side, the ones approaching her rounded the corner up ahead, and she froze on the spot, her eyes growing wide while her breath got caught in her throat.

"See", the other Willow smirked, glancing up at the woman beside her, "I told you I felt strong magical energy around here somewhere."

"Yeah", the demon beside her shrugged, getting out her cigarettes and lighting one of them up; and while she did so, Willow had the chance to take a closer look, swallowing heavily as she noticed all the differences.

The most glaring ones were between herself and her counterpart in this world; the eyes of the other witch were as jet-black as her hair, her skin pale and looking as if it would be clammy to the touch, forming a stark contrast to her black clothing.

Next to her, Pat looked much more like the one Willow knew, tall and wiry, dressed in her usual attire of jeans, t-shirt and her leather jacket; the biggest difference was that this version of the demon still had both eyes intact, not wearing the glasses though she had been using when Willow had first met her. Only at the second look, the other, more subtle differences became clear; her eyes were much harder and colder than those of the Pat Willow knew, her face equally hard and uncaring as she held the redhead's gaze.

"This is interesting", the other Willow now said, distracting the redhead from her ponderings, moving closer to her and studying her intently, "she's… me. Before I embraced my power. She has it, that same power, but she's not using it."

"So she's like you, back then", evil Pat commented, giving her a disparaging look, "big deal."

"I wonder where she came from", the witch wondered in response, taking another step closer; and finally, it occurred to Willow that it might be wiser to flee, but when she tried to do just that, she found, to her horror, that her feet refused to move, a slight smile curling the lips of her counterpart as she shook her head.

"No, no", she then said in almost sing-song, "you're not going anywhere. There is so much you have to tell me."

Her smile widened, then she made an almost careless movement with one hand – and seconds later, a shocked squeal escaped the redhead as her arms were jerked behind her back and bonds of bright energy materialized around her wrists out of nowhere, a small giggle escaping her counterpart as she walked closer to her and ran the tips of her fingers down her cheek, the cold and unwelcome touch making the redhead shiver.

"Let's take her to Buffy's", she then suggested, looking at the taller woman again, the demon still appearing unimpressed, smoking her cigarette as she studied the witch, "she'll have some wonderful ideas what to do with her. Maybe she can turn her, she has been pestering me about that again lately…"

"Fine with me", evil Pat shrugged, then moved up to them and grabbed Willow by the arm, with a grip so tight that it hurt, "come on then, move it."

"You're so hot when you're all rough and grumpy", this world's Willow commented, making the taller woman smirk slightly; without letting go of the redhead, she bent down in response to kiss the dark witch rather passionately, Willow almost feeling sick at the display, as if she was looking at a perverted version of the love her partner and she shared, knowing that, in her dark state, this world's Willow was practically incapable of loving anyone.

"I can be much more rough later on", the demon promised her partner after they had pulled apart again, making dark Willow smile and nod; the couple exchanged another smile, then Pat's face hardened again as her grip on the redhead's arm tightened and she started leading her off, her heart hammering up to her chest as she asked herself what might happen to her now.

* * *

Already upon entering the Summers house, the traces of the fight which had happened there not too long ago were clearly visible, in form of dents in the wall, broken furniture – and bloodstains on the floor, splashes and puddles of the crimson liquid dotting the carpet and wooden hallway, a trail of blood leading to the cellar door.

"Oooh, you brought her back", Buffy gushed as Pat dragged the captured Willow inside, "how nice. She just ran off while I was busy with her version of you, Pat. She's not nearly as bad as you are, she smelled all wrong."

"Really", evil Pat gave back, for the first time sounding interested, "where is she, then? Did you kill her?"

"No", Buffy replied, with Willow only realizing that she had been holding her breath in anticipation when she heard the negative answer, an unarticulated noise of relief escaping her, "I put her downstairs with Rupert, I wanted to show her to you."

"Let's go then", dark Willow gleefully responded, even clapping her hands, looking and sounding disturbingly childlike, "I wanna see how she's different to my Pat!"

"Sure", Buffy smiled, "and bring this other, nice Willow, maybe we can keep them down there with Rupert. He could need the company."

"You heard her", evil Pat snarled at Willow, pushing her towards the cellar door rather roughly, "get moving."

Smiling, Buffy took the lead, unlocking the door before she made her way down the stairs; and as she followed her, Willow's breath got caught in her throat once more as she saw the cellar, her heart skipping a beat before it started hammering so hard and fast that she felt as if she'd die of a heart attack on the spot.

In one corner of the room, a cage stood, and inside it, a thin figure sat huddled in the corner, giggling quietly; it took the witch a moment to recognize him as Giles, an emaciated and white-haired Giles, his eyes squinting as he tried to see without his glasses, the cuts on his arms and the holes in his neck showing clearly why Buffy was keeping him down there.

And leaning against the opposite wall, Pat sat, heavy manacles clamped around her wrists, the chain which connected them to the wall so short that she could barely kneel, let alone stand upright; from how she looked though, Willow doubted that she would have been able to stand even if she hadn't been chained, blood all over her face and clothes, her nose having broken so viciously that it almost seemed to lie on her right cheek, the eyepatch gone, her ruined eye exposed to the people in the cellar.

"She took quite the beating", her counterpart observed, "good job there, Buffy."

"Thanks", the Slayer beamed at her, while all Willow could do was stare, asking herself when it had been the last time that she had seen her lover get beaten so horrendously, "she really wasn't much of a match for my strength. I guess she underestimated me."

"As many do", evil Pat commented, pushing the redhead quite harshly and almost making her fall down the few stairs she still had to go, "there, go join your lover."

Swallowing heavily, the witch moved over to her partner, not surprised, but still concerned to find her unconscious; from the corner of her eye, she saw her counterpart raise her hand, but before she could react, the magical energy binding her wrists had vanished, instead replaced with a tendril of magic around her ankle, running away from her leg and vanishing into the wall, keeping her from taking more than a few steps.

"We'll figure out what to do with you", Buffy promised her, smiling sweetly, "sit tight until then, okay? Take care of your lover there, maybe I'll fight her again later. It was fun."

She let out a girlish giggle while dark Willow and the demon merely smirked; then all three turned and left the cellar, the door slamming close moments later, the sound of a key turning in the lock following suit, something Willow didn't even hear anymore though, fully focused on her partner already.

"Pat", she tried, tenderly touching her shoulder, "come on, wake up, we have to figure something out… Please wake up, for me?"

"No escape", Giles sang behind her, making her flinch before she turned to look at him; he wasn't looking back at her though, staring up at the corner of his cage instead, rocking back and forth slightly, the glint of insanity in his eyes making her shiver.

"Failure", he went on, a sob shaking him and causing her heart to clench up, "deserving this fate… You, not from here. You're wrong. She's wrong."

All at once, his gaze focused on Willow, and she had to force herself to not look away – she had seen him angry in her world, and desolate, and a myriad of other emotions, but she never had seen him so obviously maddened.

"You're like she was", Giles went on, shifting slightly on the cold floor, "before. Before I failed. Soul. A soul to take, nothing to give… She will be there as soon as darkness falls… And then all was lost…"

"I don't understand", Willow carefully gave back, not wanting to upset him; clearly though, her efforts had been in vain, as all at once, he threw himself forward, smashing his face against the bars of his cage, apparently not feeling the pain, his voice echoing through the room as he started yelling.

"Failure! Failure! Amateur!" he screamed, a mix of spittle and blood flying from his lips, "wrong! All of this is wrong! Should have killed you when I had the chance! Rank, arrogant amateur, bury you in England!"

Shrinking back from him, Willow almost automatically tried to hide behind her still knocked out partner, seeking shelter from his hatred; and as she did so, her blood ran cold as she made sense of his words, despite how insane this sounded – somehow, all of this, from Buffy the vampire to the evil versions of both Pat and her, was her fault.


	14. Chapter 14

By the time the door opened again and made Giles fall silent, Willow was almost grateful, even though she knew that nothing good would come through that door; the Brit had displayed quite the endurance during the time they had been left alone, ranting and rambling at her while next to her, Pat had been drifting in and out of consciousness, back to out cold by the time Buffy came back downstairs.

Even though his talk had been disjointed and obviously the ramblings of a man gone mad after God knew how many years of imprisonment, Willow had managed to puzzle some of what had happened together thanks to his words; by now, she knew that somehow, during patrol, Buffy had ended up bitten, killed and turned by a vampire, and this world's version of her had tried to give the Slayer's soul back to her.

Something had gone wrong during the spell, and the darkness had taken over; and after that, it hadn't taken long until this world's Pat had joined vampire Buffy and her about their newly found evil look on life, the three of them terrorizing the town, browbeating the other demons and vampires into submission, Buffy turning Xander, Dawn and Anya, adding them to the ranks of their small group.

The only one who hadn't been turned had been Giles, the Watcher fighting to the end to stop all six of them; and this was how he had ended up in the basement, locked up in a cage and slowly losing his mind while the vampires of the group drank from him whenever they felt hunger and weren't in the mood to go out.

"So how are you doing?" Buffy wanted to know as she came down the stairs, smiling at her prisoners while Giles let out a sob and tried to crawl as far away from her as possible, "did you get comfortable? I hope Rupert wasn't too much of a nuisance."

Glaring at her, Willow kept her mouth shut in reply, not sure what she should say to this version of her best friend, anyway; unperturbed by her silence, Buffy smiled at her, then called out "Alright, you can come down!", this world's Willow and Pat coming down the stairs as well moments later.

"You know", Buffy stated in an almost conversational tone as she moved closer to the redhead, her gaze moving from her to the demon, "fighting your girl here really was a lot of fun. She's strong, and here, no one dares fight me anymore, so I'm itching to beat something up…"

"Well, you took her out", Willow now did reply, glaring at the vampire, telling herself that, even if she did look like Buffy, it wasn't her best friend, not anymore, just like the two women standing behind her weren't herself and the Pat she knew and loved; in response, Buffy just smiled, then nodded at dark Willow, the black haired witch smiling slightly as she raised one hand.

Briefly, Willow saw magic energy sparking from her fingers, having a second to ask herself what she was doing; and then, Pat groaned behind her, her chains clinking as she twitched, another groan coming from her as she opened her good eye, still looking dazed from the beating she had taken.

"Want me to heal her?" evil Willow wanted to know while the redhead let out a gasp, finally realizing what was happening; ignoring her, Buffy nodded after a moment, an evil glint entering her eyes as she replied. "Just enough so she can get up and hold out a few minutes. I need to get warmed up before we go out."

She cracked her knuckles, the sound as loud as a gunshot; with a disturbingly gleeful giggle, dark Willow nodded, then brought up both hands this time while her partner lit up another cigarette, clearly not perturbed by the thought that someone who basically was her would end up receiving yet another beating.

Behind the redhead, Pat let out another groan, soft fleshy noises reaching Willow's ears moments later; and when she turned to look, part of the demon's wounds were gone, her nose still having this horribly crooked look though, the way she tried to breathe not too deeply making it evident that any ribs which had been broken before the healing still were in that state.

"Come on, get up", Buffy ordered, the manacles around her wrists snapping open at a careless gesture from dark Willow, "it won't take long, I promise."

"No", Pat snarled as she came to her feet, her fists flaming up, "it really won't."

"She's as confident as you, Honey", dark Willow commented, looking at her lover, who just smirked, then chuckled in response; smiling as well, the black haired witch pulled her down for yet another passionate kiss, but neither Willow, nor Pat paid them much mind, the demon focused on the Slayer while the witch once more tried to break the magical bond her counterpart had put on her, ending up as unsuccessful as she had been during the countless previous tries.

"I got some demons to chastise later on", Buffy let the taller woman know, moving closer to her with slow, graceful steps, "so you'll have to help me warm up a bit. You can do that, right?"

"I'll do much more than that", Pat promised her, making her giggle yet again – and then she launched herself forward, the taller woman this time reacting fast enough to avoid being tackled, sidestepping the lunge and following with a kick to the blonde's back which sent her sprawling.

Snarling, the vampire came to her feet again with lightning-quick moves, twirling around just in time to see the fist come flying at her face; and even though it shouldn't have been possible, one of her hands shot up and she caught the punch, moving so fast that she almost seemed to blur, a malicious smirk curling her lips as she used her free hand to return the attack, slamming her fist into the demon's stomach hard enough to knock the air out of her.

"You're forgetting that I have both Slayer- and vampire strenght", she then stated, using the grip she still had on Pat's fist to yank her closer, then down, her knee simultaneously coming up, a shocked, wordless cry escaping Willow when the blow connected with an awful crunching noise, fresh blood dripping to the floor moments later.

"I wish your blood tasted as good as it smells", Buffy snarled, moving her hand to grab the taller woman by the collar, jerking her into an upright position again and slapping her hard across the face when it became clear that the blow had been enough to almost knock her out again, "but I guess I'll just have to drink from Giles again. Or from the lovely, good-hearted Willow here."

"Don't you dare touch her", Pat pressed out through a mouthful of blood in response, making Buffy giggle – before she hoisted her up, displaying her immense strength, and sent her flying, all the way across the room, a grunt coming from her as she landed in a heap.

"She's as protective of her Willow as you are of ours", the Slayer remarked while the demon's evil version bent down and pulled her counterpart up, moving her arms beneath her armpits and entwining her fingers behind her neck, forcing her to remain upright, but keeping her from doing much more than struggle weakly, "seems like some things never change."

"Indeed", Buffy commented, a greedy glint entering her eyes as she moved closer to the witch, licking her lips, "make sure she doesn't interrupt me. I'm hungry, and I always wondered what Willow tastes like…"

"No!" Pat half shouted, half snapped, struggling against the grip her counterpart had on her, while Willow started to scramble backwards, as far as the magical chain would let her; it didn't take long until the chain had been stretched taut and she had to stop, her mind racing as she tried to figure out how to stop the blonde from draining her dry.

"If you touch her, I'll kill you!" she heard Pat snarl behind the vampire, but gave her best to not focus on her lover; instead, she concentrated on the magic within her, reaching for it, eager to at least put up some sort of shield until she could think of an offensive spell to use against the blonde.

"Hecate protect me", she whispered to herself, reaching for the magic; and the moment she tried to use it, searing pain ran from her ankle all through her body, making her cry out as she cringed, tears filling her eyes while she quickly let go of the magic again, hearing her counterpart giggle slightly a few feet away.

"Do you think I'm dumb?" dark Willow then asked, shaking her head while her partner chuckled, as well, still holding Pat in a firm grip, "I know exactly what kind of power you wield. Of course I blocked you from using it."

"Thank you", Buffy smirked, then reached down and grabbed the witch, pulling her up until they were on eyelevel; her smile widened briefly, then her face changed as her demon came to the front, the redhead just having a second to struggle before the fangs sank into her neck.


	15. Chapter 15

The moment she saw Buffy bite her lover, all rational thought left the demon, a loud growl coming from her while glowing red light filled her good eye; and instead of struggling further against her counterpart's grip on her, she threw herself backwards, startling her evil version so much that she lost her footing and involuntarily let go of her, a harsh curse coming from her as she hit the floor.

Startled by the noise, Buffy pulled back and looked up, blood smearing her lips and chin; she just had a second to look surprised, then Pat tackled her and slammed her down to the ground, all her injuries and pain forgotten as she punched her in the face as hard as she could.

"I told you", she growled while behind her, her counterpart came to her feet again and dark Willow started moving forward, glaring at her back, "if you touch her, I'll kill you."

"Look out", she heard Willow pant just as she pulled her fist back again, and she turned, just in time to see her evil twin reach out for her; with a snarl, the other Pat grabbed the front of her shirt and jerked her away from Buffy, lifting her up until her feet dangled above the ground, the dark witch stopping her advancement at the sight, a smile curling her lips.

"You know", the evil demon started, smiling up at her, "I keep asking myself what happened to your eye. Why don't you tell me? Then I can do the same thing to the other one and leave you blind while Buffy sucks your Willow dry."

"I have a better idea", Pat gave back, without missing a beat, prompting the witch to later ask herself how her counterpart could not have known what was coming, since they were basically the same, only their morals differing, "I'll show you."

And while she still was talking, her hands already shot up; and seconds later, her evil version was screaming in pain as both the black haired woman's thumbs dug into her eyes, blood streaming down her cheeks moments later, her cry mixing with the shocked yell dark Willow let out.

Unperturbed by the screams, Pat kept pushing down, until finally, the hands which had clenched on her collar in reflex when her attack had started let go and she fell back down, somehow managing to stay on her feet; she heard that Buffy was coming to her feet again, and from the corner of her eye noticed that dark Willow had begun to move once more, but kept up the pressure, only letting go once her counterpart had stopped screaming and was merely groaning anymore, falling to the ground the moment she pulled back her hands, her thumbs bloodied all the way to the second knuckle.

"Curse you!" dark Willow shrieked as she stormed forward, murder in her eyes; before she could reach the demon though, the redhead had thrown herself into her path, successfully making her stumble, then fall, and before she could recover, Pat was there, firmly grasping her head – and giving it a brutal jerk, the sound of the evil witch's neck breaking awfully loud in the room.

Momentarily, Willow felt like throwing up at the sight of her lover killing her evil counterpart so easily; then, she reminded herself of the fact that the dark witch would have killed them just as easily, had she been given the chance, and that Pat never would do something like this to her, only acting this way to protect her.

And seconds later, those thoughts were forgotten, as Buffy had recovered and slammed into her partner once more, sending her sprawling to the ground; with anger and hatred twisting her face into a horrible grimace, the blonde grabbed fistfuls of Pat's hair, jerked her head back and then smashed her face down against the stone floor, her angry shrieks about what the demon had done mixing with the insane laughter Giles was letting out in his cage.

"Stop!" Willow cried out as the vampire repeated the motion, the groan her lover let out barely audible anymore; with horror, the witch realized that, if she didn't do anything, Buffy would simply kill the taller woman, at the same second noticing that the magical bond was gone from her leg, her eyes narrowing as she focused, using the first spell she could think of against the blonde, the energy blast which had helped her so often already ever since she had learned it.

Thanks to her worry and anger about all the things which had been done to them, she put more strength into the blast than she probably had intended, sending the Slayer flying all the way through the room until she crashed against the cage, dazed; and before she could recover, Giles had grabbed her from behind, wrapping one arm around her throat while he started clawing at her face with the other one, laughing the whole time, the witch only noticing a few heartbeats later that tears were streaming down his face.

"Let go of me, you old fool!" Buffy snarled, trying to break free of his grip, to no avail though; and seconds later, her eyes went wide as Willow had spotted the wooden shovel, one thought being enough to lift it up and break the handle, the vampire's struggles increasing as the splintered length of wood slowly turned, until the sharp end was pointing at her.

For a second, Willow hesitated, years of friendship with another, human Buffy making this harder for her than she had thought it would be; it was enough time for the vampire to break free, but before she could take more than two steps, the piece of wood shot forward and embedded itself deep in her chest, an expression of stunned surprise briefly showing on her face – before she was dusted, leaving nothing but a pile of ashes behind.

* * *

After Buffy had been dusted, the couple just sat there for a while, Willow holding the demon in her arms and carefully working her healing magic, knowing how quickly she could tire herself out with this and that she only had to restore enough of her lover's strength so she could get up, change and heal the rest in her demonic form.

"Stop", Pat croaked out after a few minutes of that, as if she had heard her partner's thoughts, "I can get up now. That's enough."

"Are you sure?" Willow demanded to know, giving her a sceptical look; the taller woman's face was still dreadfully pale, the blood which was drying on her skin forming a stark contrast, and to the witch's concern, her gaze looked strangely unfocused, as if she couldn't quite concentrate on her.

"No", the black haired woman at least was honest, "but I don't want you to waste any more energy on me. Who knows what magic you'll have to do to get us out of here."

"Hopefully Hecate will do that", Willow mumbled, stopping the magic though, figuring that her partner had made a good point; with a weak smile, Pat just shrugged, not needing to point out that the first try to do so hadn't worked out that well, groaning softly as she moved out of the witch's embrace and came to her feet, staggering, but managing to remain standing.

"Step back", she then advised, her face paling even further, to the redhead's growing concern, "I don't want to burn you accidentally, it's bad enough Buffy bit you."

"She didn't do much damage", Willow reassured her at once as she moved back, giving her lover some room, "what you did to your… evil version pretty much distracted her from me before she could drink more than a few gulps."

"You still got two holes in your neck", Pat pointed out, then let out a low growl as the transformation began; as soon as it had finished, there was an awful crunching noise as her nose snapped back into place, making her yelp in discomfort, Willow giving her a sympathetic look, not even wanting to imagine how much that must have hurt.

"There we go", the demon sighed out a short while later, after the various sounds of bones and wounds healing had died down, "so much better."

"I'm glad", Willow told her, moving closer to her as she was changing back and smiling when immediately, she was pulled into a tender embrace, "I was really worried when they took me down here and you were all out cold and beaten up…"

"Aw, come on", Pat smirked, holding her even closer, "you should know that this doesn't stop me. Especially not once they make the mistake of harming you."

"I know that", the witch reassured her, "but I love you, which is why I can't help worrying."

"Not right", Giles now decided to remind them of his presence, making them both flinch as they somehow had completely forgotten about him, both of them turning to look at him now, surprised at how much clearer his gaze seemed to be as their eyes met his, "the two of you. Not right. Not evil. You're like… before."

"Before it all went wrong", Willow softly added, making him nod; she held his gaze for another moment, then glanced at her lover again, her voice serious as she went on. "Promise you'll never let me corrupt you like that in case I go dark again."

"I promise", Pat reassured her once, holding her gaze; by now, the witch had gotten so used to the ruined eye that seeing it without the patch covering it went almost unnoticed, prompting her to remember with a small smile how strangely startling it had been to see her lover's counterpart, with both eyes healthy and intact.

"I wonder how it happened", she pondered out loud after another moment of considering this, looking down at the dead counterpart of her lover, the injuries which had been inflicted on her and the shock this had caused obviously having been enough to kill her, "that you turned evil with me, I mean."

"No idea", Pat shrugged in response, "but it does it matter? It's not likely to happen in our world anytime soon, right?"

"I should hope so", Willow gave back, taking another look at their evil versions before she forcefully removed those thoughts and worries from her mind, her gaze moving to Giles again as she asked herself what they should do about him – after all, Xander, Anya and Dawn were still out there somewhere, vampires just like Buffy had been, and he clearly was in no shape to take care of himself.

"Release", Giles seemed to answer her unasked question, his voice low and serious, his eyes surprisingly calm, "set me free. Please? Been here long enough…"

"…I don't think he's just talking about the cage", Pat said out loud what Willow had been thinking the moment she had seen the look in his eyes; swallowing heavily, she nodded, knowing that, even though the Brit clearly wanted it, she couldn't give him the release he asked them for.

"Go wait upstairs", the demon added, once more proving how well she knew her, knowing what was going on after taking just one look at her, "I'll do it."

"I'm not going to leave", Willow gave back, shaking her head as if to underline her words, "the least I can do is be there when you do it, after all he went through in this world…"

For a moment, Pat looked as if she wanted to protest, but then just nodded, to the redhead's relief; and then, without another word, the demon moved over to the cage and ripped the door open with one powerful pull, moving back to give Giles some room to step out, something the Brit did with no hesitation.

"Thank you", he said to the couple once he stood upright next to the cage he had spent so many years in; finding herself unable to speak, Willow just nodded and grasped his hand, making him look at her with a weak smile on his face, the smile never fading, not even when Pat stepped behind him and took firm hold of his head, both of them closing their eyes seconds before she did the deed, silence filling the cellar after it had been done and he slumped to the ground, having been given the release he had been craving for so long.


	16. Chapter 16

Author's Note: And here's the final chapter for this one :) The beginning of the next story will be posted on Friday.

It took them both a while to recover after Giles had been killed, a slight tremble still in Willow's voice when she suggested that they should go to the Magic Box next, find some way there to contact Hecate; it bothered her a bit that the Goddess hadn't manifested yet, prompting her to wonder if she didn't know that she had sent them to the wrong world, or if something was keeping her from interfering yet again.

"The dark magic of your counterpart, perhaps", Pat guessed randomly, just as eager to get Willow's and her own mind off of Giles' fate as the witch was, "I imagine a Goddess like Hecate isn't all too happy about such dark magic so prevalent in the world."

"Could be", Willow nodded after considering this for a moment, glad to get out of the cellar as she climbed the stairs with her partner right behind her, "so the Magic Box is our best bet, I can find all I need there to try and invocate her, that might help her to manifest here… Or show us where we are, in case she didn't figure this out yet."

"How could she not?" Pat wanted to know, raising an eyebrow in disbelief, "she's a Goddess. Isn't she supposed to just, well, kinda know?"

"There might be millions of worlds out there", the redhead pointed out in response, "or perhaps, even more, an unlimited number of them. And if she sent us here on accident, which I'm quite sure of, or she would have warned us, it might even take a Goddess some time to find us. Especially if this dark Willow's energy was so strong here that it hid mine and yours."

"You know, that evil Pat really wasn't all too smart", the demon grumbled in response, making the witch smile slightly, and achieving exactly what she had been hoping for when she had made that comment, "I mean, how could she not have seen that coming? I would have!"

"Maybe being evil made her… less observant than you are?" Willow gave back, giggling when immediately, Pat shot back, "You mean, maybe it made her stupid"; for a moment, she considered lying, then nodded, earning another huff from the taller woman.

"Well, in the end, I suppose it was a good thing", she then pondered out loud as they left the Summers house, lighting up another cigarette the moment they were outside, Buffy's dislike about her smoking inside embedded so deep within her by now that she didn't even notice, "I'm not sure I would have been able to take her in hand to hand, with her being fully fit and me all beaten up. And changing would have taken too long…"

"Good thing indeed", Willow nodded at once, grasping her hand and making her smile slightly, "and good thing too that you're not above fighting dirty."

"Demon", the taller woman reminded her in reply, chuckling slightly; giggling again as well, Willow nodded her agreement, then stopped her and pulled her down for a kiss, and even though she had intended it to be short and innocent, it quickly deepened as they both fully realized what big mess they just had gotten out of alive, miraculously unhurt and just a bit worse for wear, with the demon's face still hurting from the beating and the eyepatch gone.

"Alright", the taller woman breathed after they had pulled apart again, a well-known glint in her good eye, "we better stop this now and get moving, or I'll drag you back inside to ravish you right there on the couch. Or in the hallway."

"Tempting", Willow had to admit, "but it'll have to wait until we're back home. You can ravish me all you want there."

"Oh, I will", Pat promised her at once, making her smile slightly; she fought down the urge to kiss the taller woman again, knowing that her words hadn't been an empty threat, but instead grasped her hand again, some gentle tugging finally getting her to move again, the town around them quiet and still as they made their way to the Magic Box.

* * *

It didn't really surprise Willow and Pat that they ran into Xander and Anya at the Magic Box, and that the store had been corrupted just as much as the rest of the town; most of the shelves was taken up by books on the darkest of dark magic, and the ingredients they could see weren't used for exactly harmless and helpful spells, either.

Just like Buffy had, the vampire couple at first believed that it was their version of the witch and the demon they were facing; only when they got a closer look at Pat and saw the scar tissue where, in their view, just hours ago a perfectly healthy eye had been, and noticed Willow's red hair, they realized that something was amiss, but by then, it was way too late, the witch quickly binding them in place with her magic, giving her partner ample time to finish them off.

"That was quick", Pat commented after they both had been dusted, their disbelief having shown clearly on their faces before they had vanished, "but can't say I'm mad about that. Fighting vampire Buffy was more than enough excitement for one day."

"Never thought I'd hear you say that", Willow teased, hiding her dismay about the state of the shop; not even sure that she'd find what she'd need to call out to the Goddess, she glanced around, taking a few tentative steps forward, almost expecting some sort of magical boobytrap to go off, glad when this didn't happen.

"Alright", she stated once she could be sure that they wouldn't suddenly be incinerated by a blast of lightning, well aware of how fond she had been of just that when she had been briefly evil, "help me look, I need some mulberries or oak leaves, and a white candle, blessed if possible, but if it's not, it should work, too."

"I'm not sure I'll be able to see the difference between a blessed candle and a regular one", Pat pointed out, once more demonstrating that, despite her very nature and the fact that she had been with a talented witch for years now, she knew surprisingly little about magic, "but fine, I'll look."

"Thank you", the redhead gave back with a little wink, then went to search for the herbs she needed for the invocation while the black haired woman started to look for a candle; it didn't take long until she found one, and even though she had no idea if it was blessed or not, she figured it might do, proudly holding it up so the witch could see it.

"Got a candle", she added, just to make sure, "did you have any luck about those leaves or whatever?"

"Not yet", Willow gave back, holding up a glass jar to take a closer look at what was inside, then grimacing when she saw it was something which looked much more like a body part than like herbs, carefully putting it back again, "Anya really stocked up on the evil stuff when she became a vampire, it seems."

"Does that really surprise you?" the demon wanted to know, raising an eyebrow and making her giggle while she shook her head, a hint of mischief in her voice as she replied. "Can't say that it does, no… Think we should tell her once we are back?"

"Definitely", Pat gave back without missing a beat, earning another giggle, "if only to see her dumbstruck face."

"You're mean", Willow scolded in response, even though her tone of voice made it clear that she wasn't fully serious; the demon just smirked and shrugged, not pointing out her nature again, but instead going back to searching for the plants they still needed, Willow doing the same a moment later.

"Got it!" the witch called out after searching for a few more minutes, proudly holding up a jar full of mulberries, "those should do, even though they are dried and not fresh… Would you mind lighting the candle?"

"Nope", the taller woman shrugged, letting a small flame appear on the tip of her index finger and holding it close to the wick, causing it to catch fire within seconds; thanking her, the redhead removed a handful of berries from the glass, then started crumbling them into the flame, chanting under her breath as she did so, with Pat making sure to keep quiet, not wanting to accidentally interrupt the spell.

To the relief of both of them, it didn't take long until the Goddess heard the call and appeared out of nowhere, looking immensely relieved; by now, Willow was almost getting used to facing Hecate, but she still felt nervous as she mumbled a greeting, the taller woman doing the same next to her, prompting the Goddess to smile slightly.

"I wish everyone would be as respectful as the two of you", she then told them, lowering herself until she stood on the hardwood floor, moving closer to the couple, "and I'm glad you called out to me. I have been looking for you, make no mistake, but with so many worlds out there and not really knowing where I sent you…"

"Well, there we are", Willow gave back, still a bit anxious, "so… Not to be rude or anything, but could you send us home as fast as possible? Or do we need to go out again and find oak leaves and mistletoe?"

"Not this time", Hecate reassured her, "my magic is stronger in this world, especially now, with your evil counterpart gone. I assume the two of you did this?"

"Indeed", Pat was the one to answer this, making the Goddess look at her, "and we got rid of the rest of the evil gang, as well. Um, except for Dawn, she's still out there somewhere, but the rest is gone…" She realized that she was about to start babbling, which usually was Willow's role, and forced herself to shut up; clearly having noticed this, Hecate gave her a calming smile, then nodded, a hint of pride in her voice as she replied. "So some good has come of accidentally sending you here, after all. Perhaps this world fill find some peace now…"

"Hopefully", Willow mumbled, once more thinking of Giles and his cruel fate; Hecate nodded again, giving her an understanding and sympathetic look, as if she knew exactly what the witch was thinking about, then asked the couple to hold each other's hands again, reminding them to be quiet before he started the spell yet again, the blinding white light engulfing them once more just a few moments later.

* * *

To their surprise, they found themselves not at the abandon building where their journey had started, but in Buffy's home, something they realized the moment they were able to open their eyes again – and obviously, Buffy had been surprised by their sudden arrival as well, since her shriek reached their ears before they even could see anything, making them both flinch.

"What the Hell1", the blonde then brought out, her voice trembling just enough to let the two notice as they sat up on the carpet, feeling dizzy, the travel having taken its toll on both of them, "where did you come from?! We've been spending days trying to find you and now you pop into my living room?!"

"Sorry?" Willow gave back, once she could be sure she wouldn't throw up the moment she'd open her mouth, "we didn't really choose where we'd end up…"

In response, Buffy stared at her for a more seconds – and then she almost catapulted herself off the couch and tackle-hugged the redhead, prompting her to let out a surprised mixture of "Ooff" and squeal, Pat having just a moment to chuckle at the attack before she was pulled into the embrace as well.

"Do you have any idea how worried we were!" Buffy nearly yelled at them, making both their ears ring, then apparently calmed down again enough to lower her voice, still sounding overjoyed though as she went on. "We had no idea what had happened, that light vanished and you were both gone! All of us have been hitting the books for the last few days!"

"Well, we have quite a few stories to tell", Willow let her know in response, glad that the blonde had loosened her embrace enough so she could breathe again without difficulty, "the highlight surely being Pat riding a dragon. But before we tell you, we'd really like to get some rest."

"…I'm not even sure I want to know if it involves you riding a dragon", Buffy gave back, glancing at the demon, "and what happened to your eyepatch?"

"Long story", Pat replied at once, coming to her feet and then holding her hand out to the witch so she could do the same, the smaller woman gladly taking the offer even though technically, she could have gotten up on her own, "as Willow said, we'll tell you all about it later."

"Fine", Buffy accepted this surprisingly quickly, "you can sleep here if you want, then you won't have to go home first. I'm glad you're back."

"We're glad to be back", Willow reassured her, smiling at her; the three of them hugged once more, then the couple made their way upstairs, glad that they had found their way back home at last, now eager to get some rest before they'd have to tell their tell – and face whatever new dangers life in Sunnydale might throw at them.

End.


End file.
